The new Gen Alpha slang 'fanum tax' has even stumped Gen Zers, who worry they're too old to keep up

• The phrase "Fanum tax," coined by the comedy creator Fanum, has taken over TikTok this week.
• Fanum created the term in late 2022 to describe a humorous bit where he took food from his friends.

Gen Z internet users are baffled by the sudden explosion of new memes popularized by Gen Alpha, the younger generation of those born in the 2010s, and are worried they are now becoming uncool.

The latest Gen Alpha meme to bamboozle the older generations is "Fanum tax."

Earlier this week, the TikToker Anthony Mai shared he was confused about what "Fanum tax" is — and, more importantly, if he and others are starting "to lose touch" with online cultural relevancy. His video has been viewed 3.7 million times.

"Gen Alpha is making their own memes now. It has begun," Mai wrote in on-screen text. "We are the next cringe gen on the chopping block."

So what is "fanum tax?" To the best of our cringe abilities, we will try to unpack this for you.

Fanum tax was inspired by a creator's joke about taxing foods he gives friends

Fanum tax comes from the comedy creator Fanum, who is a member of streamer Kai Cenat's influencer crew AMP. The phrase refers to the way Fanum would jokingly "tax" other members of AMP in 2022 by taking bits of their food when they were eating, according to the digital culture database KnowYourMeme. The website says the meme is popular with both Gen Alpha and Gen Z, but numerous Gen Zers, like Mai, say they were not aware of the meme at all.

The term "Fanum tax" blew up on TikTok this week, thanks largely to the viral song "Sticking Out Your Gyat for the Rizzler." In it, a young, squeaky voice parodies the musician SUICIDAL-IDOL's TikTok hit "ecstasy" by listing off a bunch of new internet slang, like "rizzler," "skibidi," and "Fanum tax."

"Sticking out your gyat for the rizzler, you're so skibidi, you're so fanum tax, I just wanna be your sigma," the lyrics go. The song was originally posted on October 4 by the user @papaboy020 and featured a character dancing in Roblox.

In a video about the song that's been viewed over 3.7 million times, a 23-year-old woman said she understood everything up until "Skibidi" and "Fanum tax." Numerous younger Gen Zers hopped into the comments to say they, too, had no context clues for the viral lyrics. While most listeners seem vaguely aware of what "Skibidi toilet" is, since the meme about the animated talking toilet has been popular online for a few months, "Fanum tax" is newly perplexing.

"I'm 17 next month, i know what fanum tax is but i had to be told it, is this what old people experienced," one commenter asked. "Im gen z but what is fanum tax," another top comment said with a crying emoji.

"Im 14 and idek what fanum tax is bro," one person confessed.

The fitness influencer Nathan Freihofer, who is at the tail end of Gen Z at age 26, made a video saying he had "never felt old" until he heard the song.

"I'm 16 and I'm still clueless," one viewer responded to his sentiment.

In addition to being confused, some TikTokers have created parody videos using "Fanum tax" as an example of how bizarre they feel Gen Alpha slang has become. One popular clip imagines that all the little kids on Roblox voice-chat sing the meme song. A skit influencer made a video pretending to be an annoying kid who overuses terminally online slang.

"Fanum tax! Fanum tax!" he screams while snatching a bag of chips from a woman behind the camera. "You have gyat to be rizzing me!"

Another TikToker lamented how she strives to be "the cool zillennial sister" but finds it difficult when her little brother drops new slang on her. "I've seen fanum tax explained three times and i still don't get it," she wrote in the description of her video.

Other users have taken to TikTok to call out Gen Z users for calling Gen Alpha memes cringe. "Please don't do the same thing that millennials do to us, to gen A," one Gen-Zer wrote in a video. "You don't have to get every joke on the internet. Not finding this funny, does not make you better than gen A."

When his term went viral on TikTok this week, Fanum recorded himself reacting to "Sticking Out Your Gyatt for the Rizzler" and said he approved of the parody track and wanted to know who created it.

"I kinda fuck with it though, that's why I keep bumping it gang," he said.

Insider has reached out to Fanum for comment.