Hagmaxxing

About

Hagmaxxing is a slang term popularized on X / Twitter and 4chan in 2024. While the earliest known viral use of the term saw X user @kinematografi encouraging people to start "hagmaxxing" by "living in the swamp" and "stirring potions constantly" (describing a hag witch), later use of the term was popularized by a fake Vice article supposedly written by journalist Mack Lamoureux, the headline of which reads, "Meet the hagmaxxers: Gen Z's new social trend of dating older women." A screenshot of the fake article was originally posted to 4chan's /int/ board, before it was circulated on X in May 2024.

Origin

The earliest known use of the term "hagmaxxing" online is a September 12th, 2021, post on 4chan's /r9k/ forum,^[1] with an anonymous user writing, "I don't care about looking old. Im hagmaxxing. If it repels p**** away from me, then even better."

The earliest known viral use of the term "hagmaxxing" is a February 18th, 2024, post by X^[5] user @kinematografi that read, "listen, you need to be hag maxxing. you need to be living in the swamp. you need to be stirring potions constantly. sweeping away your footprints, wearing rags, installing chicken legs on houses. sending nightmares to children. you need to be obsessed with preserving the forest." The post gathered over 10,000 likes in three months (seen below).

Spread

On May 21st, 2024, X^[3] user and Statue Profile Picture account @lporiginalg or "I, Hypocrite" posted a screenshot of a fake Vice article that read, "Meet the hagmaxxers: Gen Z's new social trend of dating older women." The post gathered over 55,000 likes in a week (seen below, left).

Later that day, an anonymous 4chan^[2] user claimed credit for creating the fake screenshot on the forum's /int/ board (seen below, right).

The article was shared and quoted on X^[4][10][6] multiple times on May 21st, with I, Hypocrite's post eventually receiving a Community Note informing readers that it is fake and other X^[9] users, like @MedGold_, admonishing people for sharing fake articles (seen below, right).

The slang phrase also received some media coverage soon after it was shared on X, as seen in articles by the Daily Dot^[7] and LADBible.^[8]

Various Examples

Search Interest

Unavailable.

External References