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What Does 'GYAT' And 'GYATT' Mean? The TikTok Slang Term And Its Memes Explained
Whether you saw it on TikTok or witnessed a Twitch chat spam it into oblivion, the slang term GYATT, almost always written in all caps, is almost always said after a pretty lady walks by. It seems like all the guys know what it means, and even if they don't, they understand the instinct to pause a video and shout "GYATT!" just like YourRage and Kai Cenat do. "GYATT" is basically the short way of saying "Goddamn!" and even though this abbreviation's been used in small does since 2009, it wasn't until this year, 2022, that it took over some parts of the internet. So where did "GYATT" come from and how is it used in memes today?
Where Did "GYATT" Come From?
The earliest known online mentionings of this shortened form of "Goddamn!" came in the form of "Gyat damn!" and these date back to 2009 on Twitter. Unsurprisingly, the first Twitter user to utter the phrase is called @azzman (a coincidence that will become clearer as we keep explaining).
In January 2012, female hip-hop artist and meme icon Nicki Minaj was the first to gain over 100 likes for a tweet using "Gyat damn." two years later, in January 2014, she posted a tweet that earned over 1,000 likes. In fact, many tweets using "Gyat damn" as an expression surfaced in 2014 with most of them referencing Miss Minaj. She is a likely precursor for the slang's 2021 resurgence.
Going into the summer of 2021, a Twitch streamer named YourRage started growing his army en masse alongside other Black streamers like iShowSpeed and Kai Cenat. However, YourRage never showed his face, but he didn't have to. His loud and chaotic energy manifested through his screaming rage and other pieces of his comedic rhythm like pausing the video and saying, "Chat."
He also started to say "GYATT," and that's where it's modern popularization comes from. He'd watch videos and if he saw a hot girl with a large behind, he'd pause the video, shout, "GYATT!" and then the chat would spam it accordingly.
"GYATT" Usage In Memes
Although it started on Twitch, nowhere did "GYATT" find a cozier home than on TikTok. The strange word with an ever-increasing amount of As and Ts started appearing in text overlay in many TikTok videos, mostly inspired by hornyposters either screen-recording a video containing "GYATT" or posing a humorous scenario where (obviously) lots of "GYATT" would be. From this, meme creators didn't even have to say the word. All they had to do was infer it and the viewer would start to hear YouRage's voice inside their head.
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7093906706912120106
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7094815654049680686
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7097175977213693227
https://www.tiktok.com/embed/v2/7069111436252941611
Where Can I Use "GYATT?"
You can use the word anytime you see a person that you think deserves a "Goddamn!" without all the Ds and Ms. You can use it in your TikTok videos and you can even use the "GYATT" sound that seems to be trending as of late. Overall though, it's easy to say "GYATT," I mean, it's called an abbreviation for a reason. Just let the "GYATT" come out of you when you see somebody with the biggest personality you've ever seen.
HOLY MOTHER OF GYATT https://t.co/fx9V4rsUIi
— Blue🚹 (@CoFounderOfBlue) April 12, 2022
How do you use "GYATT" in a sentence?
- "I'm tryna get some GYATT from all these squat thrusts."
- "Don't walk passed me with that GYATT."
- "My personality sucks so bad but at least I got that GYATT."
For the full history of "GYATT," be sure to check out our entry on the slang term here for even more information.