Hey there, boomer. Confused about why words like Baby Gronk, Livvy, and "rizzed up" are trending on social media? We've got you covered.
You're slacking off at work, or maybe you're on a lunch break. You open a social media app and scroll past articles titled "NYC air quality is a Code Red" or "Mike Pence launches presidential campaign." Both terrible, terrible stories. You keep scrolling. Then, you come across an absolute alien of an article: "Baby Gronk, the new Drip King, gets rizzed up by Livvy." That one makes your stomach churn and your brain hurt.
You click on it anyway.
Now, the English language is not a precise science, but leave it to Gen Z-ers to make it even less so.
For ease of reading, here is a key for potentially confusing words and their definitions:
Baby Gronk: Baby Gronk is Madden San Miguel, a ten-year-old "football sensation" as his YouTube page claims. His dad has been posting his football videos online for roughly three years, and Baby Gronk now has over half a million followers across different social media platforms.
He has NO familial relation to the actual Gronk, his dad just named him "Baby Gronk" because he weighs more than children his age.
Livvy: Livvy is Oliva Dunne, a 20-year-old LSU gymnast who has been raking in a fortune thanks to NIL deals. (She's ranked second overall in NIL valuation just behind Bronny James, LeBron's son.) Livvy has over 10 million followers on Tik Tok and Instagram combined, so when she posts something, there's a good chance it'll go viral.
Rizz King: The term "rizz" was coined by livestream Kai Cenat, and it refers to one's game or ability to flirt with someone. Cenat calls it "being slick with your words," and the word itself is meant to be a shortened form of "charisma."
So, a "Rizz King" would describe someone with a certain charm and charisma who can seduce or win people over in romantic situations.
"Rizzing someone up" would be successfully flirting with them.
Used in a sentence (as a noun): Look at the way he's talking to that girl, he's got mad rizz.
Used in a sentence (as a verb): He rizzed her up at the party, and now they're officially dating.
Drip King: The term "drip" refers a confident and sexy style, so a "Drip King" would be someone who's fashionable and presumably gets all the girls.
Now, where were we? Back to the viral video.
Baby Gronk and Livvy's relationship explained: Hail the new Rizz King
The Tik Tok creator goes on a spiel about how Livvy convinced Baby Gronk to commit to LSU, calling Baby Gronk the No. 1 ranked college football prospect in the country. When Baby Gronk visited LSU, and Livvy rizzed him up. Now, Baby Gronk might be the new Rizz King and/or Drip King.
He ends the spiel with a rhetorical question: Do you think Baby Gronk will lead LSU to a national championship?
Ladies and gentlemen, we present satire from the Gen Z generation.
Even if the story in the video is mostly made-up, the creator is very much real: Henry De Tolla, a lacrosse player at UMass and the social media director of a New England-based lacrosse club. Check out his Linkedin profile, it may bestow upon you a brief sense of calm amid the mind-numbing chaos of this Tik Tok video.
The internet, as one might imagine, took the viral Tik Tok video and ran away with it.
De Tolla has a follow-up video in which Baby Gronk is challenged to a 1v1 football matchup by Baby Diggs, but that's a whole 'nother story.