The act of aggressively, obnoxiously and unnecessarily asserting one's
opinion, rights or demands, usually in public, usually at a service worker and almost always with the energy of someone who has never been told "no" in their entire life.
Often involves:
· Demanding to speak to the manager
· Calling the police on
people of colour for existing
· Weaponising tears, privilege or usually both
· Saying "I pay your salary" to someone earning minimum wage
· Claiming a "medical exemption" for something that's clearly not medical
· Believing rules apply to everyone except them
Origin
Derived from the name Karen, popularised by a 2005 Dane Cook comedy routine and cemented in internet culture by viral videos of white women calling the cops on black
people for barbecuing, birdwatching and selling
water. The term exploded in
2020 when "Central Park Karen" became a global
meme.
The present participle form, karening, emerged as internet users needed a verb to describe the behaviour in real
time.
"She was karening so
hard at the checkout that the cashier just walked away."
"I saw a
woman karening on about her 'medical exemption' at the supermarket. It was a haircut."
"He was karening so loudly I thought he was going to call the cops on the kids for playing outside."
"If you'
re karening at a 16-year-old working a register, you need to go
home and rethink your life."
"The meeting was going fine until Susan started karening about the seating arrangement."
