Scrolling in the deep is a weekly column that defines internet slang you need to know to operate online. It runs on Wednesdays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter—but only our most dedicated readers get it.
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Happy New Year, Scrolling in the Deepers! It’s 2025, which marks the official start of Generation Beta, ushering in the potential for new slang and absurd memes to blossom in this age. Still, this column has only scratched the surface of Gen Zalpha’s lexicon, so we can only imagine what the next 10 years of slang will look like.
For our first Scrolling in the Deep of 2025, we’re tackling a term that has been around for a few years yet remains in everyday use online: Mid.
What does ‘mid’ mean?
“Mid” is one of those slang words that isn’t entirely shackled to social media. The term has crossed the boundaries of TikTok, Twitter, and more and is one of the most widely used insults today. Online, you’ll see folks refer to various things as “mid,” whether that’s someone’s outfit, a movie, food, or experiences. In short, “mid” means mediocre or meh.
Mid is used to describe something that’s not particularly impressive or anything to raise your eyebrows at. So if you happen to see an overhyped movie that was underwhelming, you’d describe it as “mid.” Waited all day in line for an amusement park ride only to be disappointed? That rollercoaster was “mid.” While TikTokers have popularized the term, “mid” has actually been around much longer––way before Gen Z was even born.
Where did ‘mid’ come from?
According to a TODAY article, Elizabeth Wright, a postdoctoral research fellow in language sciences at Virginia Tech, says the word has been around since before 1150. She told the outlet, “[mid means] ‘occupying a central, medial, or intermediate position,’ according to the Oxford English Dictionary.”
However, its current definition seems to stem from cannabis culture. In other words, it was used to describe “mid-grade weed.” Neither impressive nor bad. Just…eh. It caused a stir in 2021 when pro wrestler Maxwell Jacob Friedman dissed the entire region of the Midwest during a match.“It’s called the Midwest because every single thing in it is mid,” he said.
Since then, the current generation uses it loosely to describe anything that doesn’t inherently deserve praise. As most slang tends to do, mid’s meaning has evolved and it’s slowly becoming, well, less mid and more negative.
How is ‘mid’ used today?
As mentioned, netizens no longer use mid in its original iteration. Where before mid could be attached to something just slightly unimpressive, it’s now slung as a serious insult. Mid is now the epitome of “failure,” “not good enough,” and downright bad.
This interesting progression has sparked contention among online users. One Redditor complained about its current use in the r/rant subreddit, saying, “I’m tried of people using “mid” to describe things that are bad.
People have forgotten mid means mediocre not bad, that’s all.”
With the term no longer technically being “neutral,” Gen Zalpha use it as ammunition to humiliate anything and anyone. Less-than-pretty girls are called mid, someone’s shitty music taste is deemed mid, and even entire regions are dissed as being mid. So if you really want to get under someone’s skin––maybe they called you out for having no rizz––all you gotta say is “at least I’m not mid.”
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