Lore 📖
The backstory, history, or deeper context behind a person, situation, or ongoing joke, basically anything that makes something make sense once you know the full story. Comes from video games and fantasy worlds, where “lore” refers to the established history and background of a fictional universe. In slang, it got stretched to cover real-life situations too, if there’s drama, history, or an inside story behind something, that’s the “lore.”
The term has been used in gaming and fantasy circles for decades (think Tolkien-style world-building), but it exploded into everyday slang around 2022-2023 through memes and TikTok, where people started jokingly asking for someone’s “lore” the same way you’d ask for a character’s backstory in a game.
That's not lore, that's a whole before.
How to slide it into convo
New Friend:
Wait, why do you two never talk?
Me:
There’s lore there, deep lore, don’t ask.
Friend:
Why did she leave the group chat?
Me:
It’s a whole lore situation, get comfortable.
Friend:
New person just joined the group chat and has no idea about anything.
Me:
We need to give them the lore before they say something wrong.
Cousin:
Why don’t Uncle Jack and Aunt Sarah sit together anymore?
Friend:
I don’t get why this meme is funny.
Me:
You need the lore first, it references something from like three years ago.
Roommate:
Why do you refuse to order from that restaurant?
Me:
Lore. Bad lore. I don’t want to talk about it
Vibe check
It’s said with a mix of intrigue and mock-seriousness, like you’re about to unpack something way more than it probably needs to be. Asking for someone’s “lore” is basically asking for the backstory, and giving your own lore means you’re about to go on a whole storytelling tangent.