Gaslighting

Gaslighting (verb / modern slang & psychology)

(Also heard as: Gaslit, Gaslighter, Stop gaslighting me, Proper mind games)

Definition: Lying so boldly to someone’s face that they start second-guessing their own memory and wondering if they’re actually losing the plot.

Pronunciation: /ˈɡæs.laɪ.tɪŋ/

Where It Comes From: Comes from an old 1930s play called Gas Light. In it, a dodgy husband turns down the gas-powered living room lamps and keeps telling his wife she’s imagining it until she thinks she’s going mad. Decades later, psychologists started using the word, but the internet turned it into everyday chat for anyone being manipulative and dodging the blame.

How People Actually Use It: Called out during rows when someone refuses to own up to something they clearly did. It’s what you say when a housemate swears blind they didn’t eat your leftovers from the fridge, an ex insists a conversation never happened even when you have the receipts, or a boss tries to convince you that you promised to work Saturday when you never said a word.

Examples in the Wild:

• “I literally pulled up the text showing what he said and he still tried to gaslight me.”

  Translation: He looked straight at the proof and still lied through his teeth.

• “Don’t try gaslighting me mate, you said you’d buy the tickets if I sorted the hotel.”

  Translation: Stop acting like we didn’t make that deal.

• “She had him thinking he was going crazy for months before he realised she was just lying.”

  Translation: She constantly played mind games to cover her own tracks.

Similar Slang: Mind games, Twisting the truth, Head messing, Shifting the blame, Conning, Bullshitting