bump
/bʌmp/
CommonPosting a reply to push a thread back to the top of a forum's active list.
Often self-aware and ironic now. Calling out a bump can feel like a power move or a light dig, depending on context.
Real-world examples4 examples
| # | Example | What it means | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | bump. still looking for a trade. | The person has not found what they want and is pushing the post back up. | |
| 02 | holy shit someone just bumped a 12 year old thread | A dormant thread that was started over a decade ago just got a reply. | reddit, 2023 |
| 03 | bump for the morning crowd | Pushing a post up so people who were not online earlier can see it. | |
| 04 | this deserves a bump, still relevant in 2024 | Reviving an old post because the topic is still worth discussing. | reddit, 2024 |
Use it when
- You want to revive a post or thread that got buried.
- Joking about someone necroing an old discussion.
- Acknowledging you are pushing something back into visibility with no new content.
Do not use it when
- You mean physically bumping into someone.
- You are on a platform that auto-sorts by relevance and bumping does nothing.
Variations and related forms
Origin and context
Emerged from early forum culture when threads were sorted by last activity. Posting 'bump' was the simplest way to push a thread back to the top without meaningful content. Widespread by the early 2000s across phpBB and similar platforms.
- First seen
- early-2000s
- Confidence
- medium
Cite this page
Use this stable URL to reference the entry.
https://slang.fyi/bumpUpdated: 2026-08-28License: CC BY 4.0