What does GYAT mean in a text?

An exclamation. Dictionary.com says gyatt or gyat expresses "strong excitement, surprise, or admiration." Think of it as a shouted "whoa."

Usually about a body. It is most commonly a reaction to seeing a large butt, says Dictionary.com, and it can also be used as a noun meaning a large butt. That's the meaning parents most need to know.

Sometimes about nothing at all. Online it also gets yelled at things that have nothing to do with bodies, as a meme. Our slang dictionary entry for gyatt covers the word and the meme side in more depth; this page is about how it shows up in your teen's texts, DMs and comments.

Dictionary.com traces it to "god damn": since at least the late 2000s, "gyat" has been used online as an alternate spelling of "god" in that phrase. Its link to backsides is often credited to the Twitch streamer YourRAGE, who, as early as 2021, loudly shouted it in reaction to women in his videos. His viewers copied him, spamming GYAT in his chat, and the word spread to other platforms from there.

In comment sections. This is where GYAT lives most. Under a video of someone, usually a woman, it's a comment on their body. Dictionary.com notes #gyatt is often used as a hashtag on videos of curvy women.

In group chats as a meme. Yelled at a huge sandwich, a game character or nothing at all, it's absurd on purpose.

In DMs. Sent directly to someone about their own photo, it's a comment on their body. Between people flirting, that's its sexual use, and from a stranger or classmate who wasn't invited to comment, it's unwanted.

As a stretched-out word. Extra letters (GYATTT) just mean louder.

It depends on who it's aimed at. Yelled at a cake, it's harmless and silly. Aimed at a real person's body, it's crude at best, and when it's about a classmate who didn't ask for it, it can be sexual harassment, even if everyone calls it a joke.

Our read: the word itself is not a red flag. A pile of GYAT comments under one kid's photo is the thing to look at, whether your teen is the target or one of the people commenting.

Start with curiosity, not a lecture: "I've seen GYAT everywhere. Is that mostly a joke, or is it about people's bodies?" Most teens will tell you both, which opens the real conversation.

Then make the line simple: yelling it at a huge pizza is fine; commenting on a real person's body, especially someone at school, isn't. If your teen is getting those comments under their own posts, help them use the block and report tools, and ask how it made them feel. Don't ask them to show you how it's used on a real person.

• Gyatt in the slang dictionary: the full slang entry for the word.
• NPC: another word that can turn into a pile-on in comments.
• 💀 Skull: the laughing emoji that can also flood a post.
• IJBOL: a loud laughing code, with no hidden meaning.
• Teen texting decoded: every emoji and code on one page.
• The Lowkey slang dictionary: every word, not just the texts.