Swiftionary: The Ultimate Taylor Swift Dictionary for New Swifties
If you’re new to the Swiftie fandom, it might sound like we’re speaking a foreign language. From numerology to inside jokes, Taylor Swift fans have our own universe of words and phrases.
Here I’ve compiled the ultimate Taylor Swift dictionary to help you understand what we’re saying.
The Swiftverse is complex and cryptic, but don’t worry, I’ve made it simple for you. Here’s the A to Z of the fandom, so you can finally understand what your favorite Tiktokkers are talking about!
Swiftionary: The Taylor Swift Dictionary
What did I miss? Please send me your entries at Jen (at) Swiftly Sung Stories (dot) com with the subject line “Swiftionary.”
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Numbers
“1, 2, 3 Let’s Go B****!”
Moment in the Eras Tour during Delicate when fans chant the phrase. This began from one fan’s video, and slowly spread to the entire tour.
22 Hat
Moment on The Eras Tour during the song 22 in which Taylor will give her black hat to a young fan at the end of the stage. It’s always a sweet, sentimental moment.
5
The most vulnerable track number on any album, and usually Taylor’s favorite. Examples of track 5s are my tears ricochet, All Too Well, and Dear John.
5 Holes in the Fence
Failed Swiftie clowning theory from the Lover era, in which Taylor posted a photo of herself seen through a white fence with 5 holes. Swifties theorized that 5 days from the post, the album would be released, but nothing happened.
5 days before the actual release, Taylor posted the photo again with the caption “now there’s 5 holes in the fence,” poking fun at her fandom’s clowning.
10-Minute Version
Taylor joked about having a 10-minute version of her iconic Red track All Too Well, and fans kept asking for her to release it. She did, in her Red TV album.
13
Taylor’s lucky number (her birthdate is December 13, 1989). She used to write it on her hand for good luck during her live performances.
89
Another lucky and important number in the Swiftverse, indicating her birth year, 1989.
112
The number of songs that were “stolen” in the masters heist.
112 Day Theory
Theory coined by Nikki on Tiktok that Taylor will release albums 112 days apart, which has been proven correct in the past.
A
Aaron Dessner
Singer/songwriter of The National, whom Taylor frequently collaborates with.
Abigail
Taylor Swift’s best friend since her school days, Abigail Anderson Berard.
Album & Era Colors
Each album and era is represented by one color on the Eras Tour, but in the Swiftverse these are slightly malleable and will sometimes be different shades and tones.
- Debut (Taylor Swift): Green or Teal
- Fearless TV: Yellow or Gold
- Speak Now TV: Purple or lavender
- Red TV: Dark red or maroon
- 1989 TV: Light blue
- reputation: Gray and black
- Lover: Pink
- folklore: Light gray or silver
- evermore: Brown/tan/bronze
- Midnights: Dark blue navy and deep purple
- TTPD: Black and White
Album Editions
Taylor usually releases multiple versions of each studio album, such as the Midnights “3am Edition” and the folklore “in the trees edition.”
Each special edition contains unique imagery and liner notes, and sometimes includes a special track not available on the standard edition.
Andrea (aka Momma Swift)
Andrea Swift, Taylor’s mom. We love Momma Swift. Even though Taylor’s parents are divorced, they often come together to support their daughter during her performances.
August (or Augustine)
Supposedly fictional character who narrates the song august, part of the folklore love triangle. August or Augustine is the person James cheats on Betty with.
Austin
Taylor Swift’s brother, Austin Swift.
B
Betty
Supposedly fictional narrator of the song cardigan, named after Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ daughter. In the folklore love triangle, Betty and James are high school sweethearts, but James cheats on Betty with August.
Bleachella or Bleacherella
Taylor’s iconic 2016 bleach blonde bob look at Coachella and The Met Gala. “Bleachella” is a mashup of bleach-blonde and Coachella, and “Bleacherella” is a mashup of bleach-blonde and Barbarella.
Blondie
Taylor’s nickname, coined by Swifties. This is a term of endearment, and not meant to imply that Taylor is a “dumb blonde” by any means.
C
Cardigan
It began as a song, and it evolved into merch! Taylor’s first single from folklore spawned a unique and highly-coveted merch line of knitted cardigans.
Cats
Taylor is a cat person through and through, and has 3 of her own: Benjamin Button, Olivia Benson (named after the Law & Order character), and Meredith Grey (named after the Grey’s Anatomy character).
Chaos Dress
The orange surprise song set dress that Taylor sometimes wears during The Eras Tour. Swifties theorize that Taylor saves this dress for especially chaotic surprise songs and announcements.
Chai Cookies
Taylor’s infamous Tumblr recipe for delicious baked goods.
Champagne Problems Cheer
Moment after Taylor finishes champagne problems on The Eras Tour in which the crowd will try to cheer for as long as possible.
Christian Siriano Dress
For NYC Pride 2019 (Lover Era), Christian Siriano supposedly made a rainbow dress for Taylor to wear at Stonewall. Some swifties theorize that there was to be some kind of announcement while wearing the dress, but due to the masters heist, she didn’t wear it or announce anything.
Clowning
The time-honored Swiftie tradition of trying to predict when certain things will happen. This includes things like the 112 day theory, decoding The Man wall, etc. This mostly happens on TikTok, so if you’re not on Swifttok, get over there now.
Clownelia Street
When Swifties clown too close to the sun, and our predictions are too far fetched, we’re “walking Clownelia Street.” Stems from the song Cornelia Street.
Colors of Love
Taylor seems to have a color scheme inside her mind that describes love, from “burning red” of Red, to “golden” of Daylight.
D
Debut
Taylor’s first self-titled album. To prevent confusion, Swifties usually refer to the album Taylor Swift as “debut.”
Debutation
Mashup of the two albums Taylor has yet to re-release as Taylor’s Versions: debut and reputation. Swifties often use this term for brevity, and some believe it will be a double drop.
Debut TV
Swiftie lingo meaning Taylor Swift (Taylor’s Version), the highly anticipated re-record of her very first album.
December 13, 1989
Taylor’s birthdate.
E
Easter Egg
Any clue that Taylor (and her friends, bandmates, et al) could be leaving us. Sometimes Easter eggs are in her nail polish, sometimes they’re in music videos, and sometimes it’s something she says on stage. Swifties live for finding Easter eggs and trying to decode what they mean.
Era
Each (roughly) 2-year musical phase of Taylor’s life, each represented by the album she released at the time.
Important to note: re-releases (Taylor’s Versions) are not condsidered eras, and are simply a part of her current new album era (i.e. Speak Now TV was released during her Midnights era).
Taylor usually gives Easter eggs that point to her next era while she’s in her current era (for example, she left us Easter eggs for TTPD while still in her Midnights era).
Exes
Out of all of Taylor Swift’s exes, there is really only one we love: Taylor Lautner, the likely subject of Back to December, and still a friend of Taylor’s.
The ones we collectively loathe the most are John Mayer (Dear John), Jake Gyllenhaal (All Too Well), and Calvin Harris (likely High Infidelity).
F
Fairy Tales
Common theme and motif in Taylor’s songs and albums that began in Fearless.
Folklore Love Triangle
The romance described in the trio of songs betty, august, and cardigan. These 3 songs connect to narrate a love triangle in Taylor’s (supposedly) fictional folklore album universe.
“Folkmore” or “Everlore”
The albums folklore and evermore combined, usually shortened to indicate the portion of the Eras Tour set in which she performs songs from both albums.
Fountain Pen Songs
According to Taylor, her genre of songs that “sound like confessions scribbled and sealed in an envelope, but too brutally honest to ever send.” Most of her songs fall into this category, she revealed.
In each of my lyrical analysis posts, I indicate which pen category the song likely falls into.
Friends of Dorothea
“Gaylors” or “Friends of Dorothea” are Swifties who theorize that Taylor is queer. It’s a play on “friends of Dorothy,” a historic codeword within the LGBTQ community. The original term refers to Dorothy of The Wizard of Oz, and “Friends of Dorothea” tweaks the term to reference Taylor’s song dorothea.
Friendship Bracelets
Swiftie pastime stemming from the lyrics of You’re On Your Own, Kid: “make the friendship bracelets.” We make friendship bracelets to trade at The Eras Tour, usually displaying lyrics, phrases, inside jokes or abbreviations of lyrics.
G
Gaylors
“Gaylors”, or “friends of Dorothea”, are Swifties who theorize that Taylor is queer.
Glitch
Any technical difficulty that Swifties interpret as an Easter egg, such as the screen glitching on The Eras Tour. This stems from the song Glitch.
Glitter Gel Pen Songs
Taylor’s genre of songs that are “Frivolous, carefree, bouncy, syncopated perfectly to the beat. Glitter Gel Pen lyrics don’t care if you don’t take them seriously because they don’t take themselves seriously. Glitter Gel Pen lyrics are the drunk girl at the party who tells you that you look like an Angel in the bathroom.” –Nashville Songwriting Awards
Example of glitter gel pen songs include We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together, Shake it Off, and I Forgot That You Existed.
I
“I Think For Me, Umm…”
Phrase Taylor often uses in interviews, which Swifties jokingly make fun of her for.
“It’s a Clock”
Caption for images Eras Tour concertgoers will post on Twitter when the screen’s countdown begins.
J
Jack Antonoff
Producer whom Taylor has collaborated with since 1989. He is known to Swifties as being “messy” (i.e. spilling tea that shouldn’t be spilled).
James
The third character in the folklore love triangle, named after Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds’ child.
James cheats on Betty (his high school sweetheart) with August, and the song betty narrates his apology to his girlfriend.
Most Swifties theorize that James represents Taylor, as Taylor was named after singer songwriter James Taylor.
K
Karen
The giant cobra from the reputation tour, named by Taylor.
Kaylors
Swifties who theorize that Taylor Swift and Karlie Kloss dated. See also: Gaylors, Friends of Dorothea.
Karma
A song from Midnights, but also supposedly a “lost album” that should have been released in 2016. It’s supposedly represented by the colors orange and pink as indicated by her Grammy awards outfit that year.
Karma Coffee Cup
One of the most puzzling Easter Eggs in the Swiftverse. We still don’t entirely know what it means.
Karma is the Guy on The Chiefs
Taylor’s lyric change during the song Karma on The Eras Tour. The lyrics are originally “karma is the guy on the screen,” but she changed it for the very first show Travis Kelce attended.
Kingdom
Taylor has often used the metaphor of her career as a kingdom, beginning in Long Live, and running all the way up to the present day in songs like Bejeweled.
L
Literary References
Taylor often references (directly or indirectly) books, films and poems in her songwriting.
See my list of every one of her literary references here, any my essential Taylor Swift reading list here.
Live Streams
A.k.a. “grainy livestream.” Fan projects whereby you can watch each Eras Tour show on Tiktok (and sometimes YouTube). The queen of streaming is @TessDear on TikTok, so follow her if you want all the details.
Long Pond Studio Sessions
Documentary filmed during the pandemic in which Taylor and her collaborators performed folklore.
Lost Album
In 2016, instead of releasing a new album as her 2-year cycle would predict, Taylor retreated from the spotlight due to Snakegate. Swifties theorize that there is a “lost album” that Taylor is keeping in her pocket, and Swifties like to call the album “Karma”.
Loverfest
Taylor’s Lover album tour that was canceled because of the pandemic. Swifties theorize that something was supposed to debut during this time, but because of the masters heist in the same period, it was canceled.
Lover House
Imagery from The Eras Tour. Each room supposedly represents a different era of Taylor’s career and is color-coded.
Lowercase
Taylor has three albums whose titles are styled in lowercase: reputation, folklore, and evermore. It’s likely an Easter egg, but its purpose hasn’t been entirely revealed yet.
M
“The Man” Wall
Portion of Taylor’s The Man music video in which she stands at a wall graffitied with several album names. Swifties theorize that this image holds the key to the rerecords, and especially the order in which they will be released.
Mastermind
Term used to describe Taylor’s plotting, scheming nature, as she described herself in the song Mastermind.
It’s also a game that Swifties play during The Eras Tour performances to guess what outfits Taylor will wear during which eras.
Masters Heist
On June 30, 2019, it was announced that Taylor’s former label (headed by Scott Borchetta), and owner of her first 6 albums, sold her masters to Scooter Braun.
This began Taylor’s re-record process in order to reclaim her life’s work.
Me!
The only (almost) universally loathed song in the Swiftverse, and a big part of the missing pieces of the Loverfest puzzle and Christian Siriano gown.
Merch
Taylor-branded items sold in her online shop and at The Eras Tour. Swifties believe that even the merch store holds Easter eggs and are quick to post when the shop is restocked.
Midnights Mayhem
In release week of Midnights, Taylor promoted her new tracks with short social media videos in which she revealed the song titles using a vintage lottery ball machine.
Miss Americana
Taylor’s 2020 documentary that gave us a behind the scenes look at the runup to her Lover era, as well as her first foray into the political arena.
Monologue Song
Taylor’s first hosting appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2009 was – and still is – iconic. On the show, she wrote and performed a comedic song we now call “The Monologue Song.”
“Mother is Mothering”
Possibly the most cult-like phrase we’ve coined, Swifties jokingly refer to Taylor as “mother.” We say “mother is mothering” when she does something especially caring, like interrupting her performance to get help for concert goers in the crowd.
“My Mind is Alive”
Phrase from a video of Taylor post-lasik surgery, as premiered on Jimmy Fallon.
N
Nail Colors
Taylor has given us Easter eggs in the form of her nail polish colors before, and Swifties always read into her manicure to look for clues.
Nashville
Taylor’s adopted hometown, where she first began her career as a country artist.
Nils Sjöberg
Pen name that Taylor used in collaboration with her ex-boyfriend, Calvin Harris.
“No, it’s Becky”
Joke from Tumblr which Taylor leaned into.
Numerology
Favorite pastime of Swifties to calculate and decode different numbers related to The Eras Tour, albums, and more. The 112 day theory, for example, is a product of Swiftie numerology.
Taylor herself led us down this rabbit hole with her constant number references that began with the 13 written on her hand!
P
Papa Swift
Taylor’s father Scott Swift. Even though Taylor’s parents are divorced, they often come together to support their daughter during her performances.
Pen Genres
At the Nashville Songwriting Awards, Taylor’s acceptance speech described her mental process of categorizing her songs.
There are 3 categories, according to her: glitter gel pen songs, quill pen songs, and fountain pen songs.
Picture to Burn Lyric Change
Taylor originally had a homophobic lyric in her early song Picture to Burn, and changed it for radio edit. Swifties think she will likely permanently change it with Debut TV.
Q
Quill Pen Songs
According to Taylor, this is her style of songs that “sound like a letter written by Emily Dickinson’s great grandmother while sewing a lace curtain, that’s me writing in the Quill genre.”
Examples of quill pen lyrics include willow, The Great War, and ivy.
R
Rabbit Hole
Swifties often venture into rabbit holes of theories, a theme that began with Taylor’s first reference to Alice in Wonderland in 1989’s Wonderland.
Red Scarf
In All Too Well, Taylor sings about her ex hanging onto her old scarf as a reminder of her. A red scarf has become a symbol in the Swiftverse, also included in the All Too Well short film.
Reputation TV or “repTV”
Swiftie lingo meaning “reputation Taylor’s Version,” her highly anticipated re-record of her 6th album.
S
Scooter Braun
Taylor’s arch nemesis, who purchased her master recordings.
Scott Borchetta
Taylor’s previous label owner, who produced her first 6 albums. Taylor considered Borchetta family, which is why it was all the more devastating when he sold the label she helped create – and her masters – to Scooter Braun.
Secret Message
In Taylor’s first 4 albums, she spelled out secret messages in the liner notes by capitalizing select letters of the lyrics. I detail each secret message in my lyrical analysis of debut, Fearless, Speak Now, and Red.
Secret Sessions
Surprise album release sessions Taylor used to put on inside her home, inviting a select few fans to hear the album before anyone else.
Sister Albums
Taylor has referred to folklore and evermore as sister albums, and some Swifties believe that there was a third sister: Woodvale.
Snakegate
The situation in which Kim Kardashian & Kanye West released a doctored phone call in 2016 that made Taylor look bad, and the hashtag #TaylorSwiftisoverparty was trending on Twitter with the snake emoji.
This is where Taylor’s use of snake imagery for her reputation album began.
Starbucks Lovers
Misheard lyric from Blank Space (it’s really “a long list of ex-lovers”), that Swifties like to reference in a joking manner.
Surprise Songs
Portion of her Eras Tour setlist where she performs on the guitar and piano, and changes up the setlist every night. This is the most highly anticipated moment of every show, and what songs you get at your show are your bragging rights.
Swiftball
Game Swifties play during Eras Tour performances in which they try to guess each outfit color and combination. Different versions of this game (created by different Swifties) have different names and score cards.
Swiftmas
Taylor’s tradition of gifting fans with Christmas presents and holiday surprises.
Swifttok
Taylor Swift Tiktok! There is a vibrant, highly informative community of Swifties on Tiktok, where you can keep up to date with all things Easter eggs and Eras Tour.
If you’re not into Tiktok, you can also find dedicated Twitter streams and Discord servers.
Sydney
Chant during Blank Space during The Eras Tour that stems from Taylor’s 2015 Sydney performance. Swifties replace “Sydney” with whatever city they’re in.
T
Taylor Nation
Taylor’s PR account, and the official source for all things Taylor on social platforms.
“There Will Be No Explanation, Only reputation”
The phrase Taylor and team used to introduce her reputation album, doing a very untraditional album rollout with hardly any promotion.
TS6, TS7, et al
Stands for “Taylor Swift” and the album number. Each album is numbered by its release, with 1 being debut, 2 being Fearless, etc.
If you see the hashtag #TS12, it’s usually in reference to clues for Taylor’s next studio album.
TV
Taylor’s Version, not television! Swifties shorten “Taylor’s Version” to TV for brevity, and you’ll often see hashtags like #reptv (reputation, Taylor’s Version) in anticipation of the next re-record.
V
Vault
A supposed collection of un-recorded tracks from each era. Swifties theorize that there’s more to the vault than just unreleased songs.
Vault Tracks
Bonus tracks on each re-record of songs originally written for the original album, but for some reason didn’t make the cut. Each Taylor’s Version release has contained several vault tracks that are brand new to our ears.
VMAs
Swifties usually refer to the traumatic incident at the 2009 VMAs when Kanye took the microphone as just “the VMAs,” so as not to give Kanye any more notoriety.
This moment scarred Taylor because she thought the audience was booing her and not Kanye.
W
William Bowery
Pen name that Taylor’s ex-boyfriend Joe Alwyn used when collaborating with her.
Swifties still speculate that there is more to this story than we know, and often point to Jack Antonoff’s reaction in the folklore Long Pond Studio Sessions documentary as evidence.
Woodvale
A supposed third sister album to folklore and evermore, as theorized by Swifties after a misprint in some versions of the album.
Y
“Yes, Whale”
Phrase stemming from a video of Taylor whale-watching, used as a joke in the Swiftverse.
Help Me Add More!
What did I miss? Please send me your entries at Jen (at) Swiftly Sung Stories (dot) com with the subject line “Swiftionary.”
More About The Swiftie Fandom
- Why is Taylor Swift So Popular?
- Taylor Swift Acronyms and Abbreviations, A-Z
- Taylor Swift’s Career Timeline: Quick Summary
- Taylor Swift’s Songwriting Style & What Makes it Effective
- Taylor Swift’s Use of Literary Devices, Explained
- Taylor Swift Eras, Explained
- The Ultimate Guide to Taylor Swift’s Literary References
- The Essential Taylor Swift Reading List
Lyric Quizzes
