Don’t freak out if you hear this in passing.
Gen Z has a new way of saying that they are searching for the peanut butter to their jelly.
The generation, born from 1995 to 2012, has a penchant for renaming concepts that have existed long before they were born.
In the latest instance, rather than simply saying they want someone on their wavelength with similar likes and interests, they call it “freak matching.”
“When you say you want someone to ‘match your freak,’ you’re wanting someone to go day-by-day with you and do the things that you love doing, but together,” content creator Morgan Pate told Elle, adding that Gen Zers also use the phrase platonically.
The kinky-sounding colloquialism originates from the suggestive viral Tinashe song “Nasty,” which debuted in April.
The vocalist’s now-iconic line “Is somebody gonna match my freak?” has been posted on social media for months. She has even made joking videos about being unable to find someone to match her freak — despite the track’s success.
However, its everyday usage is more on the wholesome side than that of the tune’s implied, explicit freakiness.
For instance, matching Pate’s freak, she described in a TikTok, is having great coffee, a workout, tanning, taking a shower, and then watching “Sex and the City” in “cute” pajamas.
Kelly Elizabeth Wright, an assistant professor of language sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, says this isn’t the first time the word “freak” has entered the zeitgeist.
She told Today that songs like this come along about once every ten years, citing perhaps the most iconic of them all, Rick James’ 1981 “Super Freak.”
“These songs present everything from lighthearted conversations about accepting oneself; to encouragement to flaunt your own freakiness,” said Wright, who added that it shows “empowerment for sexually uninhibited women” as well.
“People are asking the universe to send them someone with the same quirks, a match in both interests and eccentricities,” she added. “In our moment, being a freak is sexy, silly, ordinary, public, preferable, and profitable.”
Now, the slang is becoming a common dating vernacular. Plenty of Fish even coined “freak matching” as a popular trend for 2025.
The dating site reports, “39% of singles have been lucky enough to experience this level of closeness with someone.”
“All we’ve gotta say is we really appreciate Tinashe for bringing this global hot topic to our attention,” Plenty of Fish added.
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