Editorial Policy

last updated 2026-11-03

What we cover

What That Mean explains three kinds of terms: trending slang, angel numbers, and everyday acronyms. We choose entries based on what people are actively searching for and encountering — words with real usage behind them, not novelty for its own sake.

The entry formula

Every entry answers the same five questions, in the same order:

1. What it means — the plain-English definition, no jargon, no hedging.
2. Where it comes from — origin, because it usually explains the tone a term carries today.
3. When to use it — the settings where it lands well, and the ones where it doesn’t.
4. Three real examples — sentences written the way people actually talk.
5. Common misuse — the mistake we see most, so you don’t learn it wrong first.

How we research

Definitions are written by our editors and checked against how the term is genuinely used — in social posts, comment threads, lyrics and forums, across more than one community, because the same word can carry different tones in different groups. Where communities disagree about a term, we say so instead of averaging the meanings into mush. For angel numbers and other belief-based topics, we report what the reading commonly is and trace where it came from; we don’t treat the belief as fact or preach it.

Tone and sensitivity

Some slang borrows from in-group language and can be dismissive or offensive in the wrong mouth. Entries that carry this risk say so explicitly, with the context needed to make an informed choice. We don’t define slurs for entertainment value.

Dating, updates and corrections

Every entry shows its last-updated date. Slang shifts, new number sequences trend, and pages change with them — an entry that no longer matches real usage gets rewritten, not left to rot.

Found an error? Email support@whatthatmean.com with the page URL and what looks wrong. Verified corrections are published and the page date is updated, usually within a few days.