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Are your Gen Alpha kids or nieces and nephews forcing you to say “brainrot” words for this new TikTok trend? If so, they’ve probably fed you the slang “fine shyt,” leaving you understandably baffled. This phrase has been popping up in lists of cringe-worthy TikToks, but speaks to a larger trend we’ve covered before: Algospeak.
What is fine shyt?
Pronounced fine shit, the slang fine shyt is Gen Zalpha’s way of calling someone attractive. We can add that to the growing list of ways to deem a person hot (see explainers for body tea, ate, face card, etc.) But fine shyt’s prominence can be attributed to netizens finding a solution to the growing censorship on social media. Like several other slang Scrolling in the Deep has covered, fine shyt appears to be a direct product of algospeak: a language users have developed to circumvent algorithms from flagging their content as offensive or vulgar (see: goofy ahh, huzz.)
Where did it come from?
Fine shyt started populating TikTok feeds in 2024, and has earned its solid standing in the proverbial brainrot dictionary constantly updated by the youth. According to KnowYourMeme, its earliest use was clocked back in June 2024, when a user posted the definition to Urban Dictionary: “A very brief and clear definition of a beautiful woman that n***** cannot keep their eyes off them.” Since then, the term has been used to caption various memes where users, mostly men, describe talking to attractive women.
How to use fine shyt
In 2025, the way most TikTokers talk about these “fine shyt” beautiful women is through sitcom or cartoon clips. Think snippets from shows like Victorious! or anime, where the protagonist does a double take or behaves exaggeratedly to impress the huzz. These folks just slap on “fine shyt” in the caption and you’ve got yourself viral-bait.
Some examples:
“Me casting a spell so fine shyt can fall in love with me.”
“How I look at my friend when fine shyt walks past.”
“When me and fine shyt finally alone so ion gotta act nonchalant anymore.”
We can always trust algospeak to warp the spelling or virality of an otherwise seemingly ordinary phrase. Here’s us eagerly anticipating the next one.
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Want more Scrolling in the Deep?
Check out our previous explainers:
1) Scrolling In The Deep: Oh, that’s not–
3) Scrolling In The Deep: Just put my fries in the bag, bro
