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20 Things We Had To Explain To Our Parents In 2024
Vote up the confusing 2024 pop culture that you were ready to present to your parents.
A new year presents endless possibilities. What random celebrity that you haven't thought about in 10 years will swoop down as a financial angel for struggling Olympians? What album drop will completely change your summer outlook and aesthetic and perhaps personality? Which seemingly simplistic TikTok “would you rather” will illuminate startling core beliefs and feelings of an entire gender?
One thing is for certain - the weird pop culture of 2024 had you frantically googling (e.g. “rodent man defined” “am I a rodent man?”) and answering texts from your mom about Justin Timberlake's world tour and why a server referred to your father as “babygirl.” While we can't say that all (or any) of this will be important a year from now, may these moments serve as something of a time capsule of the year - from the controversial to the chaotic to the cute, very demure, very mindful.
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1'Hawk Tuah' Girl
Haliey Welch stopped to give an answer in a man-on-the-street style interview when she was asked, “What’s one move in bed that makes a man go crazy every time?”
Welch responded,
You gotta give ’em that “hawk tuah” [spitting sound] and spit on that thang!
Welch wasn't expecting her passerby response to make her an overnight viral sensation, but that's exactly what happened. The internet took a liking to her “hawk tuah” reference, and she soon became known as “hawk tuah girl.”
While she initially wasn't thrilled to earn national fame for her association with a sex act, Welch has taken the publicity in stride and leaning into newfound opportunities:
Let's just say I don't have to eat at Taco Bell anymore. But I still do.
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2Man Or Bear
The hypothetical question of “Man or bear?” became both a humorous and incredibly dark temperature check of women's safety in 2024. It started when a TikTok account asked seven women: If you're alone in the forest would you rather encounter a bear or a man? Six out of the seven women picked the bear over the male stranger, a majority answer that only solidified as more and more women started responding.
The overwhelming conviction of women to take on a fearsome wild predator they're presumably unfamiliar encountering versus a random dude was immediately unexpected and funny. But the rationales given also highlighted an alarming distrust and lack of basic safety many women feel around men/in day-to-day life. One user wrote, “I know a bear's intentions… I don't know a man's intentions. no matter how nice they are.” Another explained, “No one’s gonna ask me if I led the bear on or give me a pamphlet on bear attack prevention tips.”
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3Pommel Horse Guy
Stephen Nedoroscik, affectionately known as “Pommel Horse Guy” became a breakout star of the Paris Olympics after his 40-second routine cinched the bronze medal for the US Men's Gymnastics team, its first since 2008.
Nedoroscik earned the internet's attention after he was frequently shown on the sidelines, solving a Rubik's cube or seemingly napping, waiting for his moment in the sun. As one user put it:
Obsessed with this guy on the US men's gymnastics team… He just sits there until he's activated like a sleeper agent, whips off his glasses like Clark Kent and does a pommel horse routine that helps deliver the team its first medal in 16 years.
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Mindful, Demure
On the heels of “Brat summer" came “very demure, very mindful” which was coined by content creator Jools Lebron on TikTok. While “brat” is unapologetically messy, the “demure” and “mindful” trend is a satirical play at the opposite - modest, shy, feminine ideals. Lebron first posted,
You see how I do my make-up for work? Very demure, very mindful… A lot of you girls go to the interview looking like Marge Simpson and go to the job looking like Patty and Selma. Not demure.
Much of the internet got in on the joke, ironically tacking it on to extravagant behaviors or tagging the intention on random scenarios. For instance, NASA describing,
You see how Earth looks in space? It’s very demure, very mindful. Earth looks very cutesy in the solar system.
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5Moo Deng
Moo Deng, a pygmy hippopotamus housed in the Khao Kheow Open Zoo in Thailand became an international sensation after images of her went viral. Moo Deng, whose name was chosen by Facebook voters, continued to grow up as the world watched what Today's Hoda Kotb called her “chubby pink cheeks, a distinct potato shape” develop.
At first, Moo Deng lacked teeth, which didn't stop her from trying to playfully bite her handlers in the cutest of ways but, according to her devoted fans on social media, debuted her new choppers to excited audiences. Thousand of people visited Moo Deng, the zoo began efforts to patent and trademark “Moo Deng the hippo,” and endangered species activists hope to educate people about efforts to help animals under threat by way of Moo Deng's fame.
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- Georges Biard
- Wikimedia Commons
- CC BY-SA 3.0
6'This Is Going To Ruin The Tour'
Once beloved boy-bander Justin Timberlake only saw his fall from grace cemented in 2024, after he was arrested for driving while intoxicated. As his mugshot quickly became meme-ified, so did his reported exchange with the police officer. According to a source for Page Six:
The cop didn’t know who he was at first… Justin said under his breath, “This is going to ruin the tour.” The cop replied, “What tour?” Justin said, “The world tour.”
The bleak comment references Timberlake's The Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which was planned as something of a comeback.
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