Fleabag era

Fleabag era

English

Etymology

Coined with reference to Fleabag, a British dark comedy television series centering on an angry, impulsive anti-heroine, in combination with the TikTok trend of referring to a life phase as an era (compare flop era).[1][2]

Noun

Fleabag era (plural Fleabag eras)

1. (Internet slang) A period in a woman's life characterized by cynicism, despondency, and self-destructive behaviour.
   • 2022, Saskia Kirkegaard, "Why Being In Your 'Fleabag Era' Isn't A Flex: The Romanticisation Of Women's Suffering On TikTok", That's What She Said, 25 January 2022:

     Coming out of my own ‘Fleabag era’ was the best thing I’ve done for my mental health.

   • 2022, Jessica M. Goldstein, "Down and out and extremely online? No problem: Just enter a new ‘era.’", The Washington Post, 22 August 2022:

     A cheekily named “era” undercuts whatever hardship gives it shape: Why say you’re overwhelmed by grief, money troubles or loneliness (sad, embarrassing) when you could be in your “Fleabag era” (chic, cool)?

   • 2023, Menal Siddiqui, "The End of My Fleabag Era", Unpublished Zine, 6 February 2023:

     I will no longer be in my Fleabag era, and I refuse to be a woman deranged. I will love this world. I implore you to do the same.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:Fleabag era.

References

1. Anna Devine, "The 'Fleabag Era' and identity clubs on TikTok", The Mac Weekly, 27 October 2022
2. Jessica M. Goldstein, "Down and out and extremely online? No problem: Just enter a new ‘era.’", The Washington Post, 22 August 2022