What is a ‘choppleganger’? Internet goes mad over hilarious Gen Alpha insult

Oh no, there is yet another thinly veiled internet insult that must be unpacked.

“Choppleganger.”

A mouthful that is fun to say, but bound to cause turmoil to those on its receiving end.

Let’s look at the origin of this fresh word splice - doppelganger - the German word referring to a “double-walker” or exact replica of another person.

Being told you are someone’s exact look-a-like puts both the name caller and receiver in risky territory.

To say your friend looks identical to someone else is a big claim - you can’t really take that back.

So if they aren’t happy with the person you say they supposedly look like a clone of - good luck bouncing back.

But now, there is a fresh blackspot in this danger-zone.

What is a choppleganger?

Choppleganger is a Gen Alpha invention that forms their latest contribution to the ever-expanding meme lexicon.

It squishes together the words “chopped” and “doppelganger”.

Chopped is already something you don’t want to be called. This word in the hands of the youth doesn’t refer to cutting things up - it means ugly!

So choppelganger refers to a person who looks like a worse looking version of a celebrity.

Yikes.

Those outside of the Gen Alpha age bracket are just now hearing about the phrase, often having to search up what it means after they themselves are hit with unfortunate sentiments like: “you look like a choppleganger of Selena Gomez”.

Mr Lindsay, a teacher from the US, took to TikTok to explain the word to other adults, who like him, might have already copped the insult.

“It’s the off-brand look alike, the Great Value or Temu version, if you will,” he explained.

“This word is just now starting to pick up steam and I guarantee you will be hearing it from your teens in the very near future.”

Social media has exploded with content around the choppleganger trend as users grapple with resembling celebrities they would rather not.

“Stop calling me Mick Jagger,” one user posted.

The origin seems to come from a video posted by TikTok user @sanjipami.

She said her best friend’s boyfriend had coined the term.

“Everyone has a choppleganger, it’s like someone who almost looks like you but chopped. Or maybe you’re someone’s choppelganger idk,” she posted in late December last year.

Others have said the trend originated from a video where a person mispronounces the word doppelganger, instead saying choppleganger.

It’s no consolation to be told you are the choppleganger of a star actress either.

One user lamented about her comparison to the star of Barbie, Margot Robbie.

“Just gold told I was Margot Robbie’s choppelganger and I’m not sure whether to be grateful or offended,” Robyn Nagioff wrote on TikTok.

If you wish to inflict torture on yourself, there is already a dedicated website that uses AI to find which celebrity you look like on their “worst day”.

“Choppleganger uses AI to find the celebrity you resemble... on their worst red carpet moment,” the website said.

“Upload a selfie. Get roasted. Share the chaos.”

choppleganger.com