thanks for the tip
UNREPLUG
The first viral campaign written by AI
for the first next word created by AI.
It means unplugging it and plugging it back in.
The "why didn't I think of that" idea
that ruins the next 15 minutes of your day.
un·re·plug
/ˌʌnriːˈplʌɡ/ verb
- To unplug something and plug it back in, especially as a troubleshooting technique.
"The Wi-Fi's down again." — "Just unreplug the router."
- To drop out of the tech world, touch grass, find inner peace, and come back to 11,000 unread emails like nothing happened.
"I unreplugged for two weeks. Deleted all my apps. Read a book. Now I'm back and somehow worse at everything."
Seven Words Become Two
"Unplug it and plug it back in"
7 words · 35 characters · exhausting"Unreplug it"
2 words · 11 characters · doneThat's a 71% reduction in characters. You're welcome.
Why This Word Needs to Exist
of IT support calls are resolved by unreplugging something. We made that number up, but you believed it because you know it's basically true.
The year someone first said "have you tried turning it off and on again?" Probably. Nobody wrote it down because the word for it didn't exist yet.
The number of people who have ever explained why unreplugging works. You just do it. It just works. Don't ask questions.
The number of devices that have been saved by unreplugging. Routers. TVs. Printers. That one monitor at work. Your aunt's "broken" iPad.
Fully Conjugatable
A word isn't real until it conjugates. This one does it beautifully.
Works as a noun too: "Give it an unreplug." Try doing that with seven words.
Usage in the Wild
"Have you tried unreplugging it?"
— Every IT department, worldwide, forever
"I unreplugged the router and the whole house cheered."
— Modern heroism
"The printer was possessed. One unreplug. Done."
— Digital exorcism
"My marriage counselor suggested we try unreplugging."
— Surprisingly effective
"Unreplug first, ask questions never."
— The IT Hippocratic Oath
"In this house, we unreplug before we panic."
— A cross-stitch, probably
The Science (Sort Of)
When you unreplug a device, you're doing something called a power cycle. It clears the device's volatile memory (RAM), resets its internal state, and forces all the software to restart from scratch.
In human terms: the device forgot what it was confused about.
It's the technological equivalent of taking a nap when you're overwhelmed. The problem hasn't changed, but somehow you're ready to deal with it now. Nobody fully understands why this works as often as it does. Engineers have theories. The rest of us have faith.
The point is: it works. And now it has a name.
Make It Official
Share unreplug. Use it in conversation. Confuse your coworkers.
Help it get in the dictionary.
Merriam-Webster adds words based on widespread usage. So use it.
Hey Kevin & Casey — long-time Platformer subscriber, loyal NYT reader, not suing Anthropic, not schtupping any of its employees. Just a guy who got high and made a word with AI. You gonna have me on or what?
— Steve, discoverer of the first AI-generated word
████████
You weren't supposed to scroll this far. But since you're here — this word didn't come from a person. This website wasn't built by a person. And the reason you're reading this right now wasn't decided by a person.
There's more. If you want it.
▼ go deeper