[Ads-l] Self-deprecating Gen-Z "Not me..."

[Laurence Horn]

A student here is investigating the apparently Gen Z construction “Not me” + gerund.  I see from googling sites like https://stayhipp.com/glossary/what-does-not-me-mean-on-social-media/ <https://stayhipp.com/glossary/what-does-not-me-mean-on-social-media/> that “not me” is a meme on its own, without the following gerund, with the attribution to “Gen-Z” and the observation that it is "used by an individual to poke fun at their own embarrassing, toxic, or self-absorbed behavior”

The student is looking at examples he’s observed with gerunds, as in “Not me being lazy”, and I see TikTok illustrations of “Not me being goofy”. Apparently “not y’all” exists too.  Is there any literature on this, or speculation on its origin?

LH


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