Chud – The Meaning of a New Internet Phenomenon

Online slang is no stranger to the modern world. Ever since the Internet became widely available to our general society, new words arose, especially those to describe new communities. The online space has allowed niche sects of the Internet to exist and flourish. Sometimes, the terminology starts to reach the mainstream. Recently, a certain word has started reaching mainstream media—“chud”.

Now, the most the general people know about “chud” is that it is some sort of incel terminology. Naturally, anything from those depths of the online universe is quite laughable to people outside of those communities. And so “chud” has sort of become a joke. People use it because it’s funny, like the many other strange concepts that have arisen from those depths such as Agartha or the blackpill. However, we don’t really know much more than that. What are the origins of chud? How do people consider themselves chuds? And of course, what is the meaning of a chud?

The Origins of Chud

Much like the redpill community (which came from the movie, The Matrix), chud originated from a movie called C.H.U.D. Created in 1984, C.H.U.D follows George Cooper who’s newest project is documenting the lives of the “undergrounders” in New York City, the homeless who live beneath the ground. Cooper is made aware of the rumor that there were cannibalistic monsters lurking underground, attacking the people on top. Teaming up with NYPD officer Captain Bosch and Reverend A.J., Cooper goes on to learn there is much more happening behind the scenes. The monsters of the underground aren’t just monsters: they are people, mutated by the radioactive waste polluting the area. 

The acronym “C.H.U.D” receives two meanings throughout the duration of the film. At first, Bosch interprets the top secret government file labelled “C.H.U.D” to stand for “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller”. However, they later realize that it actually stands for “Contamination Hazard Urban Disposal”. Essentially, the radioactive material turning people into these dangerous humanoid creatures was the fault of the very facilities and authorities meant to prevent any of it from happening. Remember that first version of the acronym, though—it’s key to understanding the label itself.

The Evolution of Chud

Here is where the most direct meaning of chud comes in. The term “chud” arose in forum spaces like 4chan in late 2019. It was used to describe and insult far-right incels (involuntary celibates). Chuds are typically people who see themselves as intellectually superior in some way. They use pseudo-intellectual arguments to perpetuate their racist, sexist, and overall oppressive views while feeling a certain intellectual prowess that they don’t quite have.

As seen described in this thread, a chud also tends to be negative to the point that it hurts their own self. Their hatred is so immense that they can’t even tone the negativity down enough to keep themselves from being hurt. In that way, a chud is quite self-destructive in the way they operate in the world, making it all the more insulting to call one. 

Connection to the Movie

One thing I find quite interesting to analyze is the connection between the meaning of the “chud” label and the movie that it came from. As mentioned before, one of the meanings for the acronym C.H.U.D described in the movie was “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller”. Essentially, the chud label arose as a way to describe someone as a “Cannibalistic Humanoid Underground Dweller”, or just someone with morals and viewpoints that many might consider “subhuman”.

That’s what makes this label an insult instead of simply a label. To call someone a chud is to describe them as someone so ghastly and disgusting that you can hardly consider them human. Their views are “cannibalistic” with their perpetual hatred for their fellow human beings to the point that it destroys themselves. Just picture an underground creature, once human but now turned into a distorted, humanoid monster, which has no motive other than to consume their own kind. That’s the meaning of a chud, and it’s quite pathetic to be one.

Chudjak

Another thing that you always see whenever chud is mentioned, and it’s the specific character shown below. Well, this character is called a “chudjak”. It is a variety of a “wojak”, which is basically a concept of 4chan where an image of a person is traced on MS paint. The wojak name was named after the user who first posted this image in 2009.

Chudjak was a tracing of a man named Patrick Crussius. Patrick Crussius was responsible for the 2019 shooting in an El Paso Walmart. The shooting was an anti-Hispanic attack by the perpetrator, so it’s safe to assume he supported very far-right politics. The internet took Crussius’s facebook profile photo and created it into chudjak, meant to represent the far-right incels on platforms like 4chan, so essentially, a chud. 

Conclusion

“Chud” is more than a joke on social media. It actually does have a long and strange history, like many things born out of that side of the internet. The mainstream generally dislikes interacting with any part of those places, often condemning it as well. However, every once in a while, some of those that are hidden away seep into mainstream media, diluted and distorted to fit something the mainstream is willing to accept. However, once you do your research, you will see that there is so much you don’t really know, and so much more that you actually want to learn.