Unc / Unc Status

About

Unc is an AAVE slang term typically used to refer to older male members of a Black family or community. The word is sometimes used similarly to "OG" or "oldhead." In the early 2020s, memes about people achieving Unc Status began to spread online. Such jokes often hinged on people realizing that they have reached an age or developed habits associated with reaching "Unc Status."

Origin

The term "Unc" is African American Vernacular English derived from the word "Uncle." The term is often used to refer to older male figures in a Black family, however, it can also be used to joke about or mock an older member of a group or community.

Released on July 15th, 2003, the song "For The Love" by rapper Defari used the word "Unc," as seen at the 2:14 timestamp in the YouTube^[1] video (shown below).

On December 29th, 2016, Urban Dictionary^[2] user @Reformed Prodigy defined the term as an uncle who is also an older male mentor (seen below).

Spread

The word "unc" was used in 2014 by Gucci Mane^[3] in his song "On The Way," in the line, "Bitches wan' fuck Young Thug and they wanna fuck uncle unc" (seen below, left). Released on April 20th, 2018, J. Cole's song "Brackets" also used the word "unc" as seen at the 2:38 timestamp shown below, right.^[4]

A February 5th, 2017, post by X / Twitter user @DJPrettyBoyTank^[5] read, "UNC TOLD ME TO SNAP 1 BEFORE CHURCH RIGHT FAST," gathering over 4,000 likes in seven years (seen below, left). On March 7th, 2018, X^[6] user @chuchiitos used the word "Unc" in a teasing manner, writing, "Hey unc u right but when’s the last time u updated your iOS?" and gathering over 7,000 likes in six years (seen below, right).

Unc Status

On June 27th, 2021, TikToker^[11] @callmechosen85 posted a video joking about getting old and being called Unc and thus reaching "Unc Status." The post gathered over 900,000 plays and 160,000 likes in three years (seen below).

In the early 2020s, jokes about people saying that reached or are reaching "Unc Status" grew more commonplace online. X users @heyyitsjanea^[7] and @dielikejay^[8] made jokes about achieving "Unc Status" on November 24th, 2022, and November 19th, 2023 (seen below).

Jokes about reaching "Unc Status" spread to TikTok in early 2024, as seen in a March 14th post by TikToker^[9] @hasangoat that gathered over 400,000 plays and 80,000 likes in a week (seen below, left). A similar post by TikToker^[10] @migodown from March 21st, 2024, gathered over 500,000 plays and 100,000 likes in four days (seen below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References