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The colloquial phrase is popping up everywhere, despite its unfortunate origins. What does it mean and why can’t I have a wee on a plane?
People keep telling me I’m ‘raw dogging’ the city because I refuse to carry a rucksack to work.
Of the endless colloquial terms that seem to spawn from Gen Z and TikTok, this is probably my favourite – along with saying ‘pause’ at anything that unintentionally sounds remotely erotic.
A year ago, I’d only ever heard the phrase applied to describe sex without a condom. Gen Z’s ability to turn something easily deducible into another vague in-joke has once again shone through, however.
Now, you can play fast and loose with the definition. Turned up to a work meeting hungover and without checking your notes? You raw dogged it. Watched The Acolyte without ever seeing the original Star Wars movies? You raw dogged the franchise. Sat for an entire plane journey without food, water, or a toilet break?
Why?
@oiwudini 🧘🏻♂️ #fyp
For some reason, that scenario is where the craze is really exploding at the moment. On TikTok, if you type in ‘raw dogging’, you’ll be confronted with banal montages of plane passengers staring blankly at the back of the seat in front of them.
As a personal feat of endurance – and a ploy to grab some clout, obviously – they attempt to sit through entire plane journeys with no entertainment, sleep, food, drink, or even trips to the loo. Some claim to have had their eyes fixed on the interactive map for upwards of 10 hours without distraction.
It needn’t be said, your average Gen Zer isn’t an established practitioner in fasting or meditation and the mental stamina thing is in stark contrast with the cohort’s notoriously short attention spans and love for short-form content. Then again, they do love a challenge – especially a social media one.
The end goal doesn’t involve mindfulness, zen, or a ‘dopamine detox’ at 30,000 feet. Young people see videos like that of @oiwudini, which generated upwards of 14 million views, and want a slice of the action. Besides, there’s no evidence that any of those uploading are even completing the feat beyond a 10-second intro.
@charlie_sutherland I couldn’t even look at the flight map #ryanairedition #rawdog #fyp
It’s the lamest answer ever to the ‘Mile High Club’ and the vast majority of those undertaking are unlikely to achieve anything barring mild thrombosis and dry eyes.
Thankfully, the scramble for virality will probably die off quickly with ‘raw dogging’ joining the graveyard of TikTok challenges before it. What we’ll ultimately be left with is another slang term added to our modern vernacular.
That part, I can deal with. It’s just amusing enough to be bearable.
Apologies if this article came across as a bit of a ramble, by the way… I just kind of raw dogged it.
