About

Zyn is a brand of nicotine products that are ingested orally through a pouch held between the lips and gums. The small pouches come in several different flavors and strengths. Zyn became an increasingly popular brand in the early 2020s as nicotine pouches started to become more prevalent and trendy among consumers, particularly through their presence in internet culture. There are numerous slang portmanteaus used to refer to Zyn pouches, including "Zynachinos," "Zynbabwes," "Monica Lewzynskys," "Ted Kazynskis," "Tucker Carlzyns" and more. The catchphrase Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows, Ferda related to the product also notably went viral on TikTok in 2022.

History

Swedish Match, the manufacturer of Zyn, has operated in Europe and Scandinavia since the early 1900s. Swedish Match sells snus, a traditional Swedish form of tobacco consumption that involves dissolving a pouch of tobacco, herbs and salt in the upper lip. Snus dates back to at least the 1500s, and Swedish Match claims Napoleon I was a heavy user.

A "Zyn" follows the same principle but with nicotine salt instead of ground tobacco^[1] (jug lid from 1840 in Sweden depicting a man using snus from the Swedish Snus Museum shown below).^[9]

Zyn pouches come in different levels of strength, but a regular pouch contains 3mg of nicotine salt, meaning it is the equivalent of about two and a half cigarettes, depending on the person smoking.^[12] The pouches contain nicotine salt, sweeteners and several chemicals intended to help keep them shelf-stable.^[2]

In 2014, Swedish Match started selling Zyns in the U.S. The company saw steady growth in the U.S. until around 2020 when sales rapidly increased as nicotine pouches became trendy.^[13]

The American Cancer Society found that "overall sales (of nicotine pouch products) increased from 126.06 million units from August to December 2019 to 808.14 million units from January to March 2022," and Zyn was the most dominant company in the industry.^[3]

In 2022, major tobacco conglomerate Philip Morris International (the brand behind Marlboro) purchased Swedish Match for $16 billion.^[8]

Online Presence

The presence of Zyn products became more widespread in the early 2020s, attracting attention on TikTok and other platforms online, especially among Gen Z and young millennials.^[14]

In various posts online related to the nicotine product, many often joke about suffering adverse effects from Zyns, such as vomiting. For example, on November 21st, 2023, TikToker @notyorbuddy2 shared his story of sickening Zyn consumption in a post, earning over 15,000 likes in roughly one month, talking about how despite the supposed "cognitive benefits" of nicotine and how frequently he saw Zyns featured on podcasts, his body's response to trying one turned him off the product (seen below, left).^[4]

Meanwhile, TikToker @rylan.clark shared a TikTok video on November 2nd attempting to debunk the purported health benefits he'd seen online about Zyns (seen below, right), earning almost 1.4 million views and 28,000 likes in three months.^[7]

While Zyn is reportedly widely used in the world of sports, especially baseball,^[15] other famous figures are documented fans of the product. In particular, Tucker Carlson is known to indulge. For example, the right-wing commentator shared on November 12th, 2023, with the Nelk Boys on TikTok in a video (seen below, left) that received over 6 million views and over 600,000 likes in a month, that he generally "lower-decks or "lower-shelves" his Zyns. This means that Tucker Carlson places his Zyns around the gums on his bottom teeth.^[5]

Other videos of people consuming Zyn pouches or snus also spread, including one (seen below, right) posted on October 31st, 2023, by @snus.town on TikTok, which received over 81,000 likes and 5 million views in a month.^[6]

Zyn-Related Slang, Nicknames and Lingo

The recreational use of Zyns has inspired a notable amount of slang among users that spread online in the early 2020s. Many of them were coined by @freezertarps, a pro-Zyn TikTok content creator. In a TikTok (seen below, left) that received over 236,000 likes and 3.4 million views in the two years after being posted in August 2021, @freezertarps shared a variety of early Zyn lingo terms.^[10]

In another TikTok from October 3rd, 2023 (seen below, right), @freezertarps compiled a series of other Zyn nicknames, earning almost 12,000 likes and a quarter of a million views in two months.^[11]

Prominent examples of these terms, many of which follow the pattern of Rizz God Nicknames, include: ^[16]

• Thomas Jefferzyn
• Monica Lyzynsky
• Zyndney Crosby
• Zynnachino
• Zyndiana Jones
• Zynbabwe
• Zynnie the Pooh
• Osama Zyn Laden
• Zynasota
• Zynjamin Franklin
• Zynfluence / Zynfluencer
• Tucker Carlzyn
• Zynnabon
• Zyn N Out Burger
• Zyndaya
• Zyntucky Fried Chicken
• Pete Davidzyn
• Zyneas and Ferda
• Zynnebago
• Gum pillow
• Upperdecky
• Forgive Me Father, For I Have Zynned
• Zynderella
• Mike Wazynski
• Zynny

Slang terms for Zyn usage often refer to the position of the pouch in the mouth. "Upper decking" or "upper shelving" means putting the Zyn between the teeth and the upper lip, while "lower decking" or "lower shelving" refers to nestling the pouch in the lower lip. "Submarining" or "U-boating" also refers to the lower lip placement of a Zyn. "Double decking" refers to having two Zyns in at the same time. The slang term "ferda," abbreviating "for the boys" also is frequently used in reference to Zyns and some of their audience.

Related Memes

Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows, Ferda

Upper Decky Zynnies, Upper Decky Lip Pillows, Ferda is a catchphrase that went viral on TikTok in the fall of 2022. The phrase is comprised of several slang terms that include "zynies" or "zynnies" meaning "Zyn" brand nicotine pouches, "upper decky lip pillows" meaning nicotine pouches held under one's top lip, and "ferda," which is a slang term meaning "for the boys." The various words and phrases in the sentence are often associated with frat culture and hockey culture.

Search Interest

External References