Shook
what it means
Stronger than surprised and more physical — the implication is that the news actually destabilised you, at least for comic effect.
Shocked, rattled, emotionally thrown by something.
the origin story
AAVE and hip-hop, notably Mobb Deep's "Shook Ones" (1995) where it meant scared. The modern "shocked" sense spread through Twitter and drag culture in the 2010s.
The meaning drifted from "afraid" to "astonished", which is now dominant online. "I'm shook" became a stock reaction to plot twists, celebrity news and surprise album drops.
in the wild
Did you get to the last episode?
I'm shook. I have not recovered.
They got engaged.
Shook. Genuinely did not see that.
how to use it
- Reacting to genuinely surprising news
- Comments on plot twists and reveals
- Playful exaggeration about small surprises
- About traumatic events, where it trivialises
- In formal writing
- So often that it stops signalling anything
related terms
receipts
Community feedback
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