Have you seen the term 'Jordan' somewhere on social media websites like TiKTok and have no idea what it could mean? The term 'Jordan' is a common replacement for a racial slur, and it has many social media users horrified by its use as a tag in the first place. This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this term.
Meaning
The term 'Jordan' is a common internet replacement term that is used as a means to replace the “n-word” as a comment, tag or conversational point.
When used on social media, the term is often used to circumvent common spam filters that would have removed or blocked the post/user.
Originally intended as a mock-humorous reference, the term 'Jordan' spread from its first use on TikTok to use as a tag and general reference on TikTok and other social media platforms.
As a tag, the term has the unfortunate use of being to organize all posts tagged with the term 'Jordan' on the same page.
The term 'Jordan' is sometimes used as a humorous self-identifying reference, but it can also be used as a racial slur by others.
The term can be used as a comment, part of a status or as part of a tag.
After users' outrage at the use of the term, the content in which the term originated was removed from the TikTok platform shortly after it was posted.
Example Usage
“What's up, fellow Jordans of the world?”
“I did not just hear that man yell Jordan down the street.”
“Wow, did they really call the shoe Air Jordans in the 90s?”
“I hate having to explain to people what the term 'Jordan' means. Just look it up!”
Origin
The term 'Jordan' was first used with its current meaning (as a replacement for the pejorative racial term) in a video by TikTok user @JordanDaBoo according to internet resources. In the video, it's suggested that the user's name ('Jordan') be used as a substitution for the word.
The video appeared in the late 2020s, after which the term became popular as a tag on several social media websites that include TikTok, YouTube and Facebook.
The term would soon be treated as an in-joke reference by some, and be used as a negative racial slur by some others. Use of the term would soon be defined on several social media websites as more people looked up the meaning of the term.
After users were outraged at its popular use on several social media platforms, TikTok has reportedly removed the original video from the website.
As of 2022, the term 'Jordan' is not yet banned on most social media platforms, but its meaning has become more apparent to administrators and an automatic ban for the word might be planned in the near-future by most social media sites.
Phrases Similar to Jordan
- N/a
Phrases Opposite to Jordan
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What is the Correct Saying?
- Jordan
- jordan
Ways People May Say Jordan Incorrectly
The term 'Jordan' is mostly used as a term that is short for the “n-word”, and gets used as a way to say the word (or tag it) without expressly saying the slur itself.
The term itself is inappropriate, and while some people might have used the term as an in-reference, the agreement on most of social media seems to be that the term should not be used at all.
Grammatically, the use of the term 'Jordan' is simply used as a standard replacement to avoid saying an outright racial term that would get a user flagged, banned or removed.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Jordan
The grammatically acceptable way in which people have used the term 'Jordan' is simply to use the word as a verbatim replacement (or sometimes tag) for the pejorative or inappropriate “n-word”.
This is commonly done for users to avoid the possibility of the post or user being removed by the spam filter, a bot or a website administrator.