Has anyone ever asked you to pay a “fanum tax,” and you were completely oblivious as to what they were saying?
Well, according to Urban Dictionary, the phrase “fanum tax” originates from famous Twitch and YouTube streamer Roberto Pena, who goes by his screen name Fanum. Fanum is a member of fellow streamer Kai Cenat’s influencer crew AMP.
“The phrase refers to the way Fanum would jokingly ‘tax’ other members of AMP in 2022 by taking bits of their food when they were eating,” the site says.
Vanessa Croft, who holds a master's degree in English language, broke down the phrase for TODAY.com.
“‘Fanum tax’ refers to the concept that if someone has food in a group setting, they are obligated to share a portion of it with the others — even if they don’t want to,” she said. “Think of opening a large bag of chips, some M&Ms, or a pack of gum amongst your friends, for example. It’s a Gen Alpha way of describing the unspoken rule that people will ask for some of your food if you eat in front of them.”
“It’s similar in syntax to ‘dad/mom tax’ when you have to share some Halloween candy with your parents,” she added.
It’s similar in syntax to ‘dad/mom tax’ when you have to share some Halloween candy with your parents.”
Croft, who works extensively with Gen Z and Gen Alpha at Omololu International School, gave some examples of how to use “fanum tax" in conversation.
She said that someone could say, “Time to pay the fanum tax” or “I was going to eat it all, but I got hit with fanum tax.” Another example is, “I’m not opening this in here before y’all fanum tax me.”
“’Fanum tax’ replaces the use of ‘sharing is caring’ which is popular among millennials,” she said. “Younger generations are now using ‘fanum tax’ as a colloquial expression which unites their shared experience watching popular streamers.”
“This could be a nod, even, to the greater dependence of these generations on being ‘chronically online,’” Croft adds. “As usual, language unites a group with their niche experiences. In this case, we see yet another meme-driven iteration of linguistic adaptation in Gen Alpha.”
Fanum even spoke about his popular phrase during a 2023 interview with GQ and said that a “fanum tax” shouldn’t be seen as a bad thing.
“People confuse it like you got to take food from your friend, but I’m just saying, feed your friend, bro. Sometimes 5%, sometimes 10,” he said. “...That’s pretty much the tax. Feed your peoples, bro.”
