Gen Z
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This Gen Z trivia quiz has 145 questions with answers on the generation born roughly between 1997 and 2012, and a big chunk of it is Gen Z slang trivia: what no cap, bussin, slay, sus, bet, it's giving, caught in 4K, rent-free, vibe check, NPC and main character energy actually mean, plus the terms for a second Instagram account, a not-quite-relationship and a partner's harmless quirks. The rest covers the culture around the words: TikTok, Snapchat and Twitch, Among Us and Roblox, Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X, the GameStop squeeze, doomscrolling, cottagecore, quiet quitting and the ok boomer moment in New Zealand's parliament. Most questions are easy if you are Gen Z or live with someone who is; a few, like which word Oxford picked for 2023 or who bought Depop, will test everyone. It works as a party round, an office icebreaker between generations, or a quick check of whether you are still fluent. Every answer has been checked against a dictionary, encyclopaedia or news source, and each question shows its citation once you have answered. Anyone turning 20 in the mid-2020s was born squarely inside Gen Z, so this doubles as trivia for 20 year olds: the slang, apps and moments here are the ones they grew up with.
30 of 145 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What does the Gen Z slang term "no cap" mean?
No lie
No lie: in Black American slang, to 'cap' has meant to brag or lie since the early 1900s, and Atlanta hip-hop carried 'no cap' into everyday speech.
Q 02Which app popularized the short-form vertical video format among Gen Z?
TikTok
ByteDance bought the lip-sync app Musical.ly in 2017 and folded its users into TikTok the next summer, which is how the app arrived in the US with an audience ready-made.
Q 03What word was named Oxford's Word of the Year in 2023, largely due to Gen Z usage?
Rizz
Rizz, thought to be clipped from the middle of 'charisma', was spread by streamer Kai Cenat; Oxford saw its use peak in June 2023, when actor Tom Holland said he had 'no rizz whatsoever'.
Q 04Which Billie Eilish song was the theme for a 2021 James Bond film?
No Time to Die
No Time to Die made Eilish the youngest artist to write and record a Bond theme; released in February 2020, it won a Grammy before the pandemic-delayed film finally opened in 2021.
Q 05What does "sus" mean in Gen Z slang?
Suspicious
Suspicious, clipped to three letters: 'sus' is recorded from the 1930s, and Britain's 'sus law' once let police stop and search people on suspicion alone.
Q 06Which app popularized ephemeral photo messaging with streaks tracked by a flame emoji?
Snapchat
Snapchat marks a streak with a fire emoji once friends have swapped snaps for days in a row; in 2013 its founders reportedly turned down a $3 billion cash offer from Facebook.
Q 07Which Gen Z aesthetic romanticises tweed, old libraries, and classic literature?
Dark Academia
Dark Academia took off on TikTok during the pandemic and turned Donna Tartt's The Secret History, a 1992 novel about murder among classics students, into a style guide for readers born after it.
Q 08Which blocky sandbox building game had its full release in November 2011?
Minecraft
Minecraft, Mojang's block-based sandbox, was first shared publicly in May 2009 and had its full release on 18 November 2011; Microsoft bought Mojang for $2.5 billion in 2014.
Q 09What does "bet" mean in Gen Z slang?
Agreement, like 'okay'
'Bet' signals agreement, like 'okay' or 'deal': 'Want to grab food?' 'Bet.' It appears to descend from 'You bet!', an affirmation Americans were using by the 1850s.
Q 10Which 2021 Olivia Rodrigo song broke Spotify's single-day record for a non-holiday song?
Drivers License
'Drivers License' set Spotify's non-holiday single-day record on its fourth day and beat it again the next day with over 17 million streams; it won Best Pop Solo Performance at the 2022 Grammys.
Q 11What Gen Z term describes someone excessively devoted to a celebrity or public figure?
Stan
Stan comes from Eminem's 2000 song about a fan whose obsession turns deadly; two decades on, 'I stan' is said with no menace at all.
Q 12What does "slay" mean when used by Gen Z?
To do something very well
To slay is to do something very well: the word grew up in Black, Latino and queer ballroom culture, reached cinemas in the documentary Paris Is Burning, and went mainstream when Beyoncé sang it in 2016.
Q 13Which activist born in 2003 led the 'Fridays for Future' school strikes?
Greta Thunberg
Q 21What does "understood the assignment" mean in Gen Z internet culture?
Nailed it — did something perfectly
'Understood the assignment' means someone nailed it — did something perfectly; the phrase is credited to rapper Tay Money, whose 2021 track 'The Assignment' and TikTok about it sent it everywhere.
Q 22Which streaming platform became Gen Z's go-to for live gaming and later added "Just Chatting" streams?
Twitch
Twitch, bought by Amazon for $970 million in 2014, was built for gaming, yet in December 2019 its non-gaming 'Just Chatting' category became the most-watched on the site for the first time.
Q 23Which informal nickname for Gen Z took off in 2018 through a 4chan Wojak meme?
Zoomer
Greta Thunberg, born in Stockholm on 3 January 2003, began her 'Skolstrejk för klimatet' alone outside the Swedish parliament in August 2018; her mother is opera singer Malena Ernman.
Q 14Which 2020 app prompted users to post unfiltered photos at random times?
BeReal
BeReal gives everyone the same two-minute window once a day to post what they are doing; launched in France in 2020, it sat quietly until downloads surged in early 2022.
Q 15Which Lil Nas X song went viral on TikTok and became the longest-running Hot 100 #1 at the time?
Old Town Road
'Old Town Road' held the Hot 100's number one for a then-record 19 weeks in 2019; Lil Nas X bought its beat for $30, and Billboard's removal of it from the country chart sparked a genre row.
Q 16Which gaming platform, popular with younger Gen Z, lets users create and play millions of user-made games?
Roblox
Roblox creators build their games in Roblox Studio and earn the in-game currency Robux, which the Developer Exchange lets them trade in for real money.
Q 17What does "bussin" mean in Gen Z slang?
Really good, especially of food
Bussin means really good, especially of food: it is tied to Black American English, and its roots are disputed, perhaps an alteration of 'bursting' or 'busting'.
Q 18What is "main character energy" in Gen Z slang?
Living as your own life's star
Main character energy means living as your own life's star; it cuts both ways, since calling someone the main character can also mean they crave the centre of attention.
Q 19What Gen Z aesthetic romanticizes rural life, baking bread, and flower gardens?
Cottagecore
Cottagecore boomed in the 2020 lockdowns as an escape for people stuck at home, and Taylor Swift's album Folklore then carried the look into the mainstream.
Q 20Which 2020 viral game involved completing tasks on a spaceship while identifying hidden impostors?
Among Us
Among Us, released by Innersloth in 2018 to little notice, exploded in 2020 when streamers played it through lockdown; its original map is a spaceship called The Skeld.
Zoomer spread as mockery: the 2018 Wojak cartoon drew a Gen Z teenager with side-shaven hair and round glasses, yet by 2021 Merriam-Webster had added the nickname to its dictionary.
Q 24What does the Gen Z slang "it's giving" mean?
Something conveys a vibe
'It's giving' means something conveys a vibe: the phrase came out of the Black and Latino LGBTQ+ ballroom scene that grew up in 1960s and '70s New York, decades before TikTok picked it up.
Q 25Which Doja Cat song, boosted by a TikTok dance, topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 2020?
Say So
'Say So' stalled at number 5 until a Nicki Minaj remix in May 2020 pushed it to number one, the first for either rapper; Haley Sharpe's TikTok dance had made it a hit first.
Q 26Which secondhand-clothing app, a favourite of Gen Z resellers, did Etsy buy for $1.6 billion in 2021?
Depop
Depop, founded in Italy in 2011, cost Etsy $1.6 billion in 2021, when more than 90% of its users were under 26; in 2026 Etsy agreed to sell it on to eBay for $1.2 billion.
Q 27What does Gen Z mean by something "living in my head rent-free"?
You can't stop thinking of it
You can't stop thinking of it: the image is often credited to advice columnist Ann Landers, who warned in 1990 that holding a grudge lets someone you despise 'live rent free in your head'.
Q 28Which 2016 Netflix show about 1980s kids encountering supernatural phenomena became a Gen Z touchstone?
Stranger Things
Stranger Things was rejected 15 to 20 times before Netflix said yes: the Duffer Brothers recall executives balking at a show led by four children that was not written for children.
Q 29What Gen Z term describes someone who goes to excessive lengths for the attention of someone who doesn't reciprocate?
Simp
'Simp' was short for simpleton in the early 1900s and turned up in 1980s hip-hop lyrics, decades before TikTok's 'Simp Nation' trend revived it in late 2019.
Q 30Which June 2020 movement saw millions post a single blank square on Instagram?
#BlackoutTuesday
#BlackoutTuesday on 2 June 2020 began with music executives Jamila Thomas and Brianna Agyemang after George Floyd's killing; posting black squares under #BlackLivesMatter was criticised for burying protest information.