Foodmood

Foodmood is internet slang for the urge to eat when you're not actually hungry, first defined on Urban Dictionary in 2007. The word grew into an Instagram food-porn hashtag before going viral in November 2018 through a parody Guardian article by Twitter user @drewtoothpaste mocking "millennials are killing" trend pieces.

Origin

The earliest known definition of foodmood was posted to Urban Dictionary by user ML Hamilton on November 23, 2007 [5]. Hamilton described it as "the feeling deep in your bones where you aren't hungry, but you feel like eating" [5]. The word sat mostly in captions and hashtags for years before crossing into meme territory through a parody tweet [3].

• Platform: Urban Dictionary / Twitter (viral spread)
• Creator: ML Hamilton
• Date: 2007

Overview

Foodmood is a slang word for the feeling of wanting to eat when you're not actually hungry [5]. On Instagram, the hashtag turned into a catch-all for glossy meal shots, cooking pics, and food porn [2]. The word broke out of niche use in late 2018 after a photoshopped Guardian opinion piece treated foodmood as if it were a mysterious new millennial condition [1].

The humor works because the article looks and reads like a real trend piece about "what millennials are killing," only the affliction it describes is just being hungry [3]. That gap between the po-faced writing and the ordinary feeling behind it is what made the joke land.

How It Spread

Over roughly a decade after Hamilton's definition, foodmood grew into a common Instagram hashtag stacked with food porn, brunch plates, and cooking shots [2]. It stayed a food-content tag rather than a joke, until a Twitter parody pushed the word into wider circulation [3].

On November 14, 2018, Twitter user @drewtoothpaste posted a photoshopped Guardian opinion piece headlined "Why millennials feel they can physically and mentally 'sense' the need to eat and what it means for the rest of us" [1]. The fake article picked up more than 2,000 retweets and 10,000 likes over the following six months [1].

Some of the joke's traction came from people who missed that it was a parody. Twitter user @KyleNeubeck quote-tweeted the fake article with "This is called hunger. Millennials feel hunger. I feel like I'm losing my mind," pulling in over 175 retweets and 830 likes in about six months [4]. Others played along, quoting the photoshop and adding their own straight-faced "symptoms" of foodmood [3].

How to Use

The joke format typically pairs foodmood with mock-scientific or trend-piece language, treating basic hunger as a strange new millennial affliction [1]. On Instagram, people often tag food photos with #foodmood to flag a craving or aesthetic mood rather than literal hunger [2].

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Foodmood?

Foodmood is slang for the urge to eat when you aren't actually hungry [5].

Where did Foodmood come from?

The earliest known definition was posted to Urban Dictionary by user ML Hamilton on November 23, 2007 [5].

What does Foodmood mean?

It describes eating driven by mood or craving rather than real hunger, and it's often used as a caption on food photos [2].

How do you use Foodmood?

It shows up as an Instagram hashtag on food shots [2] and as a joking label for cravings in the style of the @drewtoothpaste parody article [1].

Is Foodmood still popular?

The word broke out through @drewtoothpaste's November 2018 parody tweet, which drew over 10,000 likes across six months [1], and stayed in use as an Instagram food tag [2].