Strange new terms are popping up all the time on social media. For example, on TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Co., you can often hear and read the phrase “on lock”. What does that mean and what does it mean?
“Auf Lock” is a relatively new youth word that has only appeared since spring 2023. You can hear it from many popular streamers, for example. While it’s quite fresh, it’s a very popular phrase – so popular that ‘on lock’ was included in the top 10 youth word of the year list for 2023.
“On lock”: The youth word explained
“On Lock” is the abbreviated form of “easy“.
The term has been around for a while in the form “on loose”. One “on lock” does not have the correct meaning. It is simply a filler word that is supposed to make a sentence “cooler” and above all “more relaxed”. “On lock” is simply used when you in a good mood is and wants to convey that in his statement. In the situation or statement described, it is simply “easily gone“. Then you do something ease and shows that one is relaxed. It can be used in almost any situation and in any context. You can find some examples of the use of “auf lock” in German sentences on Twitter:
The term is also often used in TikTok videos:
That means “on lock” in German
In streaming videos, the term is often called out or stretched out, for example in the form “auf lokkkk!”. One of the first videos with the term to go viral was HoneyPuu’s clip, which you can check out here:
Since then, there have been more and more TikTok videos in which the word makes more or less sense. The well-known streamer “Orangemorange” has also included the term in his vocabulary. Since this is a fairly new term, “auf Lock” has a good chance of being included in the list for the youth word of the year 2023.
Further explanations of current youth and online terms: