What does AS mean on TikTok? Netizens create slang for young adult television shows 

If you have been on TikTok, you must have stumbled upon the Adult Swim or the AS trend. The short video app was filled with videos that looked like bumps or ads that ended with a "[as]" sign.

The trend peaked in the middle of 2021, but it still holds significance in the community and hasn't disappeared completely.

Users showed their creativity through the trend, which is now a part of the platform's lingo. The original trend had nothing to do with adult material, but it seems people have started to use the term for young adult television shows.

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TikTokers create bumps for the Adult Swim trend

The AS or [as] trend included TikTokers creating videos that mimicked the 90s bumps or commercial style, followed by the broadcast channel Adult Swim.

Users shot a few random videos and pasted them together to create the TikToks. Some videos followed the theme, while others were more generic with no specified topic.

Some users also added informational text to the video for viewers to read and better understand their "Adult Swim bump." The trend is very inclusive and can feature a variety of topics, but one feature remains consistent with every video. Every trend video ends with the sign [as] on the screen. Some add it through editing, while others cleverly place it within the video only to be noticed at the very end.

The unofficial official sound used for the videos is the song Time Moves Slow by BADBADNOTGOOD, specifically the part that says:

"Running away is easy, it’s the leaving that’s hard."

The #AdultSwim hashtag on TikTok has over 1.8 billion views.

A few months have passed, and netizens have found a new way to use the phrase. They categorize young adult shows by labeling them with AS. This also coincides with the theme of the shows featured on Adult Swim.

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Adult Swim is a late-night block on the Cartoon Network

Adult Swim is an adult-oriented nighttime programming block on the Cartoon Network. The block broadcasts from 8 pm to 6 am from Mondays through Saturdays and from 9 pm to 6 am on Sundays.

While Cartoon Network televised child-friendly cartoons and shows, Adult Swim had shows meant for an older audience. This means the channel broadcasts shows with minimum to no censoring and often airs adult language and graphic violence programs.

Rick and Morty, Robot Chicken, The Eric Andre Show, American Dad! and Family Guy are a few examples of transgressive and crass comedy shows aired on the channel.