Gen Z has a new insult and it is savage. This week Jamila and Jenn break down \"polyester,\" the TikTok slang word taking over from \"larp\" to call something fake, janky, and low effort. Except it turns out the word did not come out of nowhere. Its a direct analogy to the actual fabric. Tune in as we trace how a fiber that was once sold to 1950s housewives as a wrinkle free miracle became such an insult that Gen Z is now using its name as a diss. We also get into the linguistic term for why this happens (semantic pejoration, try saying that three times fast), the case of \"Karen\" basically vanishing from birth certificates since 2017, and whether TikTok slang might be doing more to change how people shop than a decade of brand messaging ever did. Naturally we try to invent the next viral insults themselves: \"emissions queen\" (it backfires, sounds aspirational), \"farmed salmon\" as shorthand for anything cheap and gross, and \"renewable\" as an actual compliment. Consider this your homework: start using them immediately.
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