What is a 'canon event?' The newest slang term TikTokers are obsessing over and why they're sharing their most embarrassing character-building moments

Inspired by the newest "Spider-Man" film, the phrase "canon events" has taken the internet by storm.

• The newest popular online slang is "canon events," or an unavoidable life event that builds character.
• Many creators are sharing their own examples and are urging others to not interfere with someone else's canon event.
• A hashtag for the term has racked up over 47 million cumulative views on TikTok.

Zoomers have already popularized a host of new words, like "rizz" (charisma), beige flags (attributes in a potential partner that are not red or green flags), and "mid" (aggressively average or middling).

If you're keeping track, you can add "canon events" to that list. The latest slang term refers to an event in someone's life that may be difficult, painful, or cringeworthy but is imperative to their personal development. According to TikTokers, canon events cannot be avoided — and if it is, terrible things can occur. The term comes from the recent "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" movie, in which it was a central theme. 

Over the last couple of weeks, the hashtag for the phrase has amassed over 47 million views on TikTok, with thousands of people making videos sharing their own canon events, and making jokes about witnessing someone else experiencing theirs in live time. 

The term has become so popular that it's inspired its own AR effect called "Canon Event," created by the developer Ollie Tyler. The effect randomly gives users a canon event based on a menu of options, like "being super cringe," "shaving your head," and "getting cheated on." 

Canon events can range from something more serious (like a girl who has never kissed anyone before starts talking to a popular boy) to something more trivial (like someone's little brother looking up "cool pictures" to use for a profile photo). Others include fumbling a 10/10 potential partner, failing a crucial exam, and deciding to move in with a best friend after spending a year with them in college.

A recurring theme of the trend involves people labeling others' canon events when they witness them. One of the silliest viral videos was a woman who said she could not interfere with a girl buying a $400 garment on Shein to make her wardrobe "fit her aesthetic" because it was a canon event in the person's life.

The video comment sections are full of people saying they've experienced such events themselves or criticizing those who've poorly navigated through their canon events.

The phrase became so pervasive so quickly that it's led to a slew of videos asking what a canon event even is. In one case, after the influencer Jazz Thornton asked about it, some commenters hilariously refused to offer a definition, saying not knowing about canon events was her canon event.

Though the trend might deal with embarrassing subject matter, the spirit behind "canon events" is quite wholesome:  TikTok has made it apparent that everyone has experienced cringe-worthy and character-building moments in their lifetimes — and moving through them is how we mature. 

TikTok has become the launching pad for turning new online slang into everyday vernacular. Scroll through any popular video and comment section on the app and you will come across an essentially new language: Describing a mood or aesthetic by the phrase "it's giving" or calling changes in one's life or personality a new "era." If this vernacular still confuses you, we have this helpful guide.