From Merriam-Webster: stunt 3 of 4 noun (2) 1: an unusual or difficult feat requiring great skill or daring especially: one performed or undertaken chiefly to gain attention or publicity-1
Stunt: (verb & noun) but in the urban millennial lexicon, the word Stunt is used as a verb to describe a social media activity.
Heads up, parents of millennials, especially Baby Boomers/Gen Jones/Gen-Xers, you might appreciate the newest definition of stunt.
My youngest daughter informed me that Stunt might have the IRS or any alphabet agency taking a closer look at returns or business practices.
She mentioned that urban millennials in Cincinnati use social media to stunt.
“Stunt?” I scratched my head. I knew how New Yorkers (NYers) used the word “stunt” from the late 80s to the early 90s. Her use of the word in connection with social media was a puzzle to me, a fascinating twist in the evolution of language.
When we used the word “stunt,” it described a person who appeared to be living “high on the hog” even though they didn’t have the income to support the lifestyle.
For example,
“So-and-So says he’s living like a boss but I know for a fact he has a coat on layaway “
mKay,” I said, thinking maybe this time, the word usage centered on how African Americans use and consume media.
While I was thinking about mass communication. My youngest quickly zoomed in on social media to show me an Instagram post.
Today, millennials use “stunt” to describe a Facebook friend or Instagram celebrity’s online persona, she instructed.
This dude is “stuntin.’”
Today’s definition now includes someone’s social media persona. In this case, it illustrates that many of us are using social media to create make-believe lives.
So, although the connotation is the same, this time the act also extended to the social networking channel.
I’m getting better at walking the bridge of the generation gap. Instead of correcting my millennial daughters for using the wrong word, I’ve learned to ask for the definition of the slang word first.
Still, I’ll never forget when I first heard my daughters use the word “ratchet’ to describe something undesirable. I quickly corrected them, ‘The word is ‘wretched,’ not ‘ratchet!’ Ratchet is some type of mechanical device.”
To which my three highly educated daughters then retreated to their formal learning to remind me,
“Mom, language is alive and it evolves.”
“…language is not, as we are led to suppose by the dictionary, the invention of academicians or philologists. Rather, it has been evolved through time…by peasants, by fishermen, by hunters, by riders.”
“Stunt.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stunt. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
Art ∩ Mel 