Why Do Teens Think Everything ‘Rhymes With Grug'? This Confusing Slang Explained

Yahoo

29-05-2025

If you have a teen or tween at home, then chances are, you've probably heard some confusing things that 'rhyme with Grug.' And, lest you waste time scratching your head and trying to figure out if these things actually rhyme, we'll save you some time: they don't. No, your teens don't need a rhyming refresher — if they say everything 'rhymes with Grug,' there's a simple reason why. We'll do our best to break it down for you!
Middle school teacher Mr. Lindsay (aka, our favorite 'student translator') attempted to explain Grug on TikTok. When kids talk about Grug, they are referring to one of the main characters from the movie The Croods, voiced by Nicholas Cage.
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'In the movie, the character Grug states that there's a bunch of things that 'rhymes with Grug,'' Mr. Lindsay says. (The exact line is, 'I call it a rug, rhymes with Grug. And this one, I call it a ride, rhymes with Grug.')
'Now, obviously ride doesn't actually rhyme with Grug, and that's kind of the whole point of the meme,' Mr. Lindsay explains.
It's literally as simple as that. For some reason, that line from this 2013 movie went viral in recent weeks, and teens and tweens started saying, 'I call it a [blank]. It rhymes with Grug.' The more ridiculous, risqué, and silly, the better.
According to KnowYourMeme.com, 'The trend seemingly started with a video from TikToker @bryan..200, shared on May 3rd. The video showed him dancing to a Jersey Club remix of The Croods main theme, with a text caption reading, 'How I feel after using my own method to solve the maths problem (it rhymes with grug).' The video gained over 67,200 likes in three days.' Thus, it kicked off a mega-viral TikTok moment that has spread into tween and teen vernacular.
'There's some innocent ones out there,' Mr. Lindsay says, 'But most of them teeter on the edgy-slash-inappropriate category. For example, 'I call it a gambling addiction. It rhymes with Grug.' If this is shared with a meme, then a picture of the animated character Grug would be photoshopped over a casino background.
For more examples, check out this thread on the Teenagers But Better subreddit, where someone asked what 'rhymes with Grug' means.
One person summed it up, 'Grug at one point in the movie, while trying to prove himself a good father, tries 'inventing' things, and gives them various names, claiming that their names rhyme with his (which is why he calls them such). The joke is that none of them rhyme with his name until the end which is when he invents 'hug.''
Someone else wrote, 'I call it inside joke. It rhyme with grug.'
Teen slang is confusing (and more often than not, kinda dumb), but at least this one has innocent origins. Don't worry, once parents start using it — 'I call it doing the dishes. Rhymes with Grug,' — then the trend will likely end pretty soon anyway.
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