About

Hooks vs. Frauds vs. Norms TikToks refers to a Yoruba TikTok trend popularized in West African countries like Nigeria. The slang term "hooks" commonly refers to "hook-ups" or sometimes prostitutes in Nigerian slang, with several TikTokers posting humorous videos about "hooks" wanting relationship benefits like cuddles in late May 2025. Some TikTokers began posting jokes referring to men who sleep with hooks as "frauds," implying that they don't fulfill their end of the contract in a mutually agreed-upon hookup, whether it is financial assistance, dates or other benefits. The group "norms" also evolved from this TikTok trend, with other TikTokers classifying themselves as traditional or "normative" relationship seekers.

Origin

The term "hook" is a Yoruba slang term that evolved from the phrase "hook-up," with TikToker^[1] @femirichlife posting a video on May 23rd, 2025, captioned, "wtf is wrong with the hooks of our generation? imagine the Hooks Dey find cuddle," which translates to, "WTF is wrong with the hook-up girls of our generation? Imagine, the hook-up girls are looking for cuddles." The post gathered over 200,000 plays and 30,000 likes in a week.

Spread

Other TikTokers began posting videos about "hooks" in late May 2025, with TikToker^[2] @wonder1272 posting a video on May 31st, 2025, captioned, "The hooks say make I forget about her past / Past wey fit destroy my future," which translates to, "The hook-up girls are asking me to ignore her past, a past that could potentially ruin my future." The post gathered over 160,000 plays and 19,000 likes in three days.

Also on May 31st, TikToker^[3] @prettyeliora19 posted a video captioned, "the frauds keep babbling about the hooks (all na hustle)," gathering over 120,000 plays and 20,000 likes in three days.

On June 1st, TikToker^[4] @realestfrosh posted a video captioned, "The frauds are angry with the hooks," gathering over 150,000 plays and 14,000 likes in two days.

On June 2nd, 2025, TikToker^[5] @_ahmstrong posted a video captioned, "I like as THE NORMS no Dey shook mouth between the HOOks and The FRAUds war," marking one of the first videos to mention a third category of people called the "Norms." The video gathered over 700,000 plays and 130,000 likes in a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References