In a failed attempt to be helpful, a social media marketing company, SocialBee, completely missed the mark. The company published a blog providing readers with a list of words that could assist in reaching their desired social audience.

The blog was titled “How Can You Write Better Copy to Appeal to Gen Z Humor.” The blog and social post were removed by SocialBee, but Black Twitter moves fast.

Tweet Courtesy of @doctorjonpaul

“The jokes write themselves at this point,” tweeted user @DoctorJonPaul.

The list included the following words and definitions:

Basic (regular, boring)

Bop (a good song)

Boujee (lavish)

Catch them hands (get in a fight with somebody)

Drip (outfit)

Gucci (all good)

No Cap (seriously)

Swole (buff)

Whip (car)

The list included words that are common in African American Vernacular English and not exclusively owned or created by Gen Z.

African American Vernacular English or Black English, controversially known as Ebonics, has a rich history that touches on everything that is Black culture — from linguistics to literature to music, and the words we speak each and every day. Just as with many things in Black culture, appropriation is real, including our slang terms.

And what made the tweet weirder is knowing that SocialBee is a predominantly white company.

Tweet Courtesy of @AroundTheWayMM

In response to @DoctorJonPaul, user @AroundTheWayMM took a deep dive into the company’s website and saw a huge lack of diversity.

After the tweet went out, Black Twitter expressed their feelings about the list.

“Bougee??? They spell it wrong it’s BOUGIE and God Dammit that’s gotta be one of the OLDEST Black phrases in existence!!! I’m GenX and I’ve known it my entire life,” tweeted user @CockyMF.

“C-o-i-n-e-d” is a funny way to spell appropriated…” tweeted @CaptMarz.

After being called out on their disconnect from diversity, SocialBee tweeted an apology for the list.

“We are truly sorry for posting the graphic that clearly wasn’t properly researched and well-thought-out,” tweeted @SocialBeeHQ. “It’s on us and we deeply regret this happened; we should have known better. To prevent its spreading and misuse, we’ll delete the whole article.”

The apology fell on deaf ears as the many Twitter users felt the only viable solution would be for the company to hire more Black people.

African American Vernacular EnglishBougiegen zSLAYsocialbee