Zawg / Schlawg

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Updated May 11, 2023 at 10:41AM EDT by Rebecca Rhodes.

Added May 10, 2023 at 08:59AM EDT by Phillip Hamilton.

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About

Zawg or Schlawg refers to a trend on TikTok where users replace the first letter of the word "dawg," often with "schlawg" or "zawg," in captions placed over videos of dogs, animals or people doing funny or strange things. The slang term "blud" also features in many of these videos. The trend was popularized on TikTok in April 2023.

Origin

On April 13th, 2023, TikToker^[1] @muchodicendique1 posted a video of someone driving a lobster-shaped car under the caption, "What is zawg driving☠️☠️" and several animated GIFS cluttering the screen, garnering over 753,000 views in a month (shown below, left). This is the earliest known video to use the format. On April 18th, the TikToker^[2] posted a similar video, this time replacing the first letter of dawg to read "clawg," garnering over 425,000 views in the same rough span of time (shown below, right).

@muchodicendique1 WHAT THE HELL IS ZAWG DRIVING ☠️☠️☠️ #lobster #ohio #donpollo #muchodicenque📞📞📞📞📞📞eldiablo #muchodicen ♬ Informat – Smoked Salmon

@muchodicendique1 Not again man‼️‼️☠️☠️ #funny #muchodicen #lawg #cranium #muchodicenque📞📞📞📞📞📞eldiablo #clawg #funnyvideos ♬ sonido original – Profesor del Bait

Spread

The trend spread over the following weeks. On April 22nd, TikToker^[3] @mojonduroman posted a version of the trend that gained over 40,000 views in two weeks (shown below, left). On April 29th, TikToker^[4] @oswaldbillybarthomeul posted a video using the term "schlawg" that gained over 2.9 million views in just over a week (shown below, right).

@mojonduroman #fyp #almary #horse #zawg #mojonduroman ♬ LatututtuLatututuLatutututuLatututu – DonDreamy5808

@oswaldbillybarthomeul Zawg cant catch a break 🫣 #ohio #donpollo #salamaleykum #bruh #fypシ #oklahoma #zawg #memes #meme #fy #foryoupage #fyp #schlawg #delaware ♬ الصوت الأصلي – Ohio vibe

On May 8th, TikToker^[5] @freddienotfreddy1 posted a video using the term "zawg" that gained over 1.5 million views in two days (shown below).

@freddienotfreddy1 zawg 💀💯‼️ || #fyp #trending #viral #freddienotfreddy1 #fypシ #zawg #ohio #shlawg #dawg ♬ الصوت الأصلي – Ohio vibe

Various Examples

@officialdivingdog Bluddy thinks he’s 🔛🔝😵🤣🙏🏻 #donpollo #salamalecumalecumsalam #fyp #zawg #shlawg #blud #divingdog #dog #thedivindog #thedivingdog ♬ original sound – Chief The Diving Dog

@oswaldbillybarthomeul Sorry your highness 😭😭🙅🏽 #zawg #schlawg #meme #donpollo #salamaleykum #ohio #bruh #fypシ #oklahoma #memes #fy #foryoupage #fyp #delaware ♬ Originalton – Snickolas Cage