Where did it come from? Why is it here? And most importantly … What does it mean?
New kid on the internet block, veohentak, is making waves and we want to know why. This abstract word popped up all over the internet in recent weeks with no real meaning, substance or identity. Explainers, bloggers and anyone with a website have jumped on the word, using it in headlines and tags to feed the SEO machine. It’s like internet hype about an empty box. A viral meme without a joke.
Why does a term go viral without there being any substance to it? That is the question we’re going to tackle here. But first, let’s look at what the word means, where it originated and why.
What is the meaning and origin of veohentak?
Veohentak first appeared in creative and tech circles online, before spreading across digital communities. It has been described as a brandless, identity-free word. It doesn’t stand for anything concrete. Right now it is a blank canvas which is open to being branded or conceptualised. Anyone can claim it and mould it to mean anything they want it to.
With no roots in any language like Latin, French, Greek or any other historical language, veohentak, it is a newly invented, deliberately coined word i.e. someone made it up on purpose, or so the internet suspects.
How can we define veohentak?
If we had to define it dictionary-style for the purpose of this article, here is what it would look like:
Veohentak (n.) — A made-up word that is recognisable but empty of inherent meaning. A blank canvas that can be adapted, moulded or coined for cultural, commercial or creative use.
I’ve defined it as a noun here, but like many words, it will likely be verbified (turn into a verb) – think Google, Uber, Skype, Zoom, Tweet, Photoshop, Snap, etc.
Brands that made it big using invented words
Veohentak isn’t the only made-up word that made it big. Cue short history lesson on brands that used made-up words as brand names and succeeded in establishing iconic brands:
Google –
Who would have guessed that the word Google is a misspelling? Google is Googol, a mathematical term, misspelled! I don’t think anyone attached a mathematical identity to Google.
Rolex –
Sharp, short, easy to pronounce, easy to remember. This is what Hans Wilsdorf wanted for a brand name when he founded Rolex in 1905. At the time, the word “rolex” didn’t mean anything. Today, it is associated with prestige, luxury, old-world class and wealth. I’ll say Mr Wilsdorf knocked the ball out of the park with this one.
Spotify –
While brainstorming a brand name, Daniel Ek says “Spotify” came up when he misheard a shouted suggestion. Ek and co-founder Martin Lorentzon liked how it sounded and that it was unique. And of course it helped that it was uncoined and untrademarked.
Kodak –
The story goes that founder George Eastman loved the letter “K” for its short, punchy sound. He played with combinations of letters to form a word starting and ending with the letter “K” and came up with the word Kodak. And just like that, the name Kodak was born out of thin air (Kodak’s official history).
Accenture –
A morphing of “accent on the future” took the rebranding from Andersen Consulting to the next level with the then new brand name Accenture. Like Spotify, it was legally clean, free from associations and scalable.
Häagen-Dazs –
Bet you thought it had Scandinavian origins. But contrary to popular belief, the brand name Häagen-Dazs has no linguistic roots. It was made up in New York to sound as if it was a “European premium”.
For these brands, it worked well that there was no prior meaning attached to the words they used as brand names. The brand names were free from association or limitation and not bound by culture or history. The brands were able to assign their own identity to their brand name. These brand names were also novel and unusual and as a result catchy.
Why did veohentak go viral?
Okay, now let’s get back to veohentak. Why has a seemingly empty word gone viral and gained so much attention? Why has it captured the curiosity of so many audiences?
Veohentak’s novelty
In short, novelty. Humans love things we haven’t seen before. We thrive on novelty. It excites us and tickles our brains. In fact, our brains even release dopamine – the neurotransmitter linked to pleasure and motivation – when we encounter something new. We are wired to pay extra attention to unfamiliar things to help us process and evaluate it, which explains why we can’t stop staring at veohentak online. It has grabbed our attention and we’re trying to figure it out. It doesn’t need a definition to hook us; the mere fact that it’s unfamiliar makes us want to prod at it, repeat it and eventually give it substance.
Lifecycle of new words
Secondly, and in my opinion, veohentak went viral because this whole situation is so odd. It’s a freebie that is out there to be coined. If you think about it, the lifecycle of a word is usually the other way around; a term gets coined after the idea (concept, object, action) exists. Here’s an example: we take pictures of ourselves. The world needs a word to describe this action. So someone made up the word selfie.
Typically a word’s lifecycle goes like this: 1. A concept, action or object exists. 2. Someone makes up a term to describe it. 3. Communities start using it. 4. The media picks it up. 5. It has a chance to make it into the dictionary (this is what we call lexicalisation).
Veohentak flipped this cycle on its head: 1. The term appeared 2. It went viral 3. Communities, influencers or a brand now has the chance to assign meaning to it. Its life begins as a blank canvas, giving whoever defines it the rare opportunity to shape culture rather than simply describe it.
A short history of the word cool and its link to veohentak
Let’s take it back. Some of us will remember when the word “cool” hit the scene hard in the 90s. The word seemed novel. Everyone loved using it. Today, it is just another word. But back in its day, cool was well, the epitome of cool. It conveyed the image of being suave, rebellious, trendy.
Cool in its modern stylistic sense actually originated in the 1930s and 40s on the jazz scene. Lester Young used cool to mean calm, stylish or impressive. And just like that, cool no longer only referred to temperature, it now had a whole new meaning.
And from there on, cool kept being reinvented, each decade’s generation adding its own flair to it. Hip-hop and streetwear culture using it in the 1990s to mean edgy, authentic or full of swag. Tech and startups got hold of it in the 2000s and cool embodied minimalism. (In part, a single brand a.k.a. Apple was responsible for this.)
Usher in 2010, cool is now an ironic and self-aware teenager. Mostly only hipsters are still using it ironically at this stage. Fast forward to the year 2025: Cool is now a mixed bag. In one community it is still socially acceptable, in another it is cringe-worthy.
Regardless, cool is still very much around and continues to wear its universal badge of approval. And it gets another round of kudos considering it is one of the few words that has travelled cultural ground as widely as cool.
What does cool and veohentak have in common?
In addition to its novelty, cool, like veohentak, was/is flexible. And therein lay its power. People could drop it in to mean anything they wanted. The word wasn’t tied to a strict definition. If cool could leap from temperature to global identity marker, there’s no reason veohentak couldn’t follow the same trajectory — if the right community or brand claims it.
What’s striking is that cool (in the way we use it today) didn’t start off with this meaning. The word was reshaped and used until it stuck. In that way, it is similar to veohentak which has the potential to be assigned a meaning.
Cool’s leap into global slang was less about definition and more about feeling. And I suspect that veohentak won’t ever be assigned a fixed meaning either. It will likely remain a loose word describing a vibe instead of an actual thing, or a word with more than one definition.
Why would someone want to adopt veohentak as their brand name or coin its meaning?
The word has a modern edge: it looks and sounds cool. It stands out because it is unique, but at the same time it is not so foreign that it can’t scale globally. All of this makes it memorable and sticky.
Veohentak is recognisable, but neutral or empty. Because it is so neutral (no connection to any other meaning or no roots in any other language), this blank canvas is ready to be moulded and adapted. It can become a brand or concept name. Anyone can define it for themselves or give it context. Basically, the word is up for grabs. Anyone or any company can coin it and use it in any way they want.
To sum it up:
- As a coined or fanciful mark (a trademark that is completely made up), it does not exist elsewhere and is easier to protect legally if it clears trademark checks and is used properly.
- A unique string is easy to claim in search results early on and likely to dominate the search results. It offers SEO uniqueness.
- It’s globally scalable. Since it’s not descriptive, it’s unlikely to get lost in translation and can cross language and cultural boundaries. (Of course words should always be checked to avoid accidental meanings.)
As a brand name, invented words, like veohentak, are likely to outperform regular descriptive words. They’re a clean slate, a blank canvas. This can be priceless for a brand as the word carries no associations, biases, emotions or history.
Why would you not want to use it for your brand?
That said, with so much content about an empty word, veohentak can feel diluted. All this attention can make it feel “used up” and less novel.
What does the rise of meaningless terms mean for the future?
Unlocking digital flexibility: we’re entering an era with fewer limits. Words aren’t tied down by fixed meanings anymore. This kind of freedom can spark more innovation, novelty and creativity than ever before.
Will veohentak be coined and how?
At the end of the day, how will it happen that veohentak gets coined? Like I’ve said, anyone could do it, but most likely it will have to be someone or a brand with reach. Think, influencers or big brands or a company willing to put some bucks behind it.
The other option is through consistency. This will entail a community that keeps using it in a certain way until it sticks.
What meaning will be assigned to veohentak?
Your guess is as good as mine. We will just need to keep watching the digital space to see what veohentak’s identity will be.
Conclusion
For now, the race is on. Veohentak is known by a fair share of people, but it hasn’t been coined. The first person or group to define it loudly and persistently will likely stick their own meaning to it. I look forward to revisiting this article in 20 years’ time to see if veohentak stuck around or got lost in the ether.
Read more related articles on Buz Business.
