WTF Does 'Ohio' Mean – And Why Do Kids Say It?

Generations Z and Alpha are rapidly creating a new language among themselves – much to the befuddlement of their parents and teachers.

There’s been glazing and gurt,tuff and six-seven. Then there was Ballerina Cappuccina, as well as the rise of more problematic terms like huzz and bop, and the patronising retort “good boy”.

But what about when kids describe something as “Ohio”? Is that a good thing? A bad thing? Let’s discuss...

Why do kids keep saying it?

This one’s been around for a while now.

Despite it sounding pretty inoffensive, Merriam-Webster suggested Ohio – as in, the state in the United States – is used to describe something as “weird, awkward, cringeworthy, or otherwise undesirable or bad in some way”. (Sorry, Ohioans!)

The online dictionary said the term can also be used to mean boring or foolish. 

But where has this meaning even come from? Well, according to the Cincinnati Enquirer, it probably originates from a number of Ohio-related memes which have become popular in the 2020s.

As Know Your Meme explained: “The concept of Ohio as a meme became commonplace through multiple trends that humorously labeled Ohio as an American middle place, existing as a capitalist wasteland of chaos and mayhem...”

Yet, even prior to that, as early as the mid-2010s, people were making memes about weird things that happened in Ohio.

In fact, it’s these weird stories that might’ve had a big impact on the meaning. WYSO explained in an article: “It’s tough to diagnose precisely where slang comes from, but in this case, many attribute it to the anecdotal appearance of Ohio in news stories ranging from the odd to downright disturbing.”

Some of these stories include “the pro-fisherman who got caught putting weights in his prize-winning catch” and “the man who nearly lost an arm to a bite from his pet zebra”. 

Even kids from Ohio have been using it as a diss. So, it’s fair to say it’s really taken on a life of its own.