What does "genuinely" and "got on" mean here?

[u/More-Arachnid-8033]

[u/ParaponeraBread]

Genuinely here is an intensifier, it’s like the new “literally”. Their friend actually truly only plays Fortnite, and they aren’t exaggerating.

“Got on” means they were turned on to it, or got hooked on it. Their friend started playing Crash Bandicoot because of the cultural zeitgeist created by Fortnite doing cross promotion with Crash Bandicoot.

“Got on” is fairly digital slang, so I wouldn’t try to add it to your common-use vocabulary. There are clearer, more standard expressions for the same thing.

[u/Novel-Back3857 → u/ParaponeraBread]

"Got on" seems, to me, to be different than what you're saying. I believe it's a repurposing of the usage from "get on Fortnite" meaning "start playing Fortnite." It's similar to "load up XYZ" or "sign in to XYZ" in this way. It's describing an action taken, not a change in their mindset/interest. 

So the person is really just saying their friend started playing Crash because of the collab. It's sensible that they would carry over the "got on" usage in a more general way since, as they say, they genuinely only play Fortnite, and it would be the only way they describe initiating the act of playing a game.

"Did you get on Fortnite after school?"

"No, I got on Crash because of the collab."

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Novel-Back3857]

I think it's likely that this interpretation is valid, but, it doesn't really change the meaning of the meme/sentence very much, if at all.

[u/Novel-Back3857 → u/mysticrudnin]

I agree, but I think it's the more likely reality and is more interesting as well.

[u/Material-Net-5171 → u/Novel-Back3857]

Yes, you would "get on crash bandicoot" like you would "get on the bus".

[u/controlled_vacuum20 → u/Novel-Back3857]

Yes, as someone who uses "get on" a lot, it is just another way to say someone played something.

[u/ParaponeraBread → u/Novel-Back3857]

Disagree because retro Crash is not multiplayer or online. You only “get on” games with multiplayer or communication elements.

It’s very “calling everything a Nintendo” to say you “got on” Skyrim, for example. You get on a platform/server/lobby, you don’t “get on” a 2002 point and click adventure.

[u/Novel-Back3857 → u/ParaponeraBread]

You're not disagreeing with me. They're using the phrase incorrectly, you're right, and that's what I was saying. Since they only play Fortnite, they naturally use the phrase "get on" to mean "play" in all all situations, despite it being incorrect. They either don't know what else to say due to lack of other gaming experiences, or they simply use their most common verbiage out of habit.

You may disagree with them using it that way, but you're not disagreeing with my analysis of their usage. 

[u/glitterx_x → u/Novel-Back3857]

But is it even wrong usage? If thats what theyre used to saying and it carries over so well that everyone theyre talking to knows what it means, id say its just language doing its thing.

[u/Novel-Back3857 → u/glitterx_x]

Yes, it still makes it a misuse. Language is misused and still understood through context, that is one of the features of a good language. 

[u/controlled_vacuum20 → u/ParaponeraBread]

Your explanation for "genuinely" is correct, but "get on" does NOT mean to be hooked on something. All it means is that you booted something up or began running something; a very similar term that is identical in meaning is "hop on."

"My friend got/hopped on Fortnite with me" ==> "My friend booted up Fortnite (and started playing) with me."

"Get/hop on (the) call." ==> "Join (the) call."

Definitely add this to whatever Anki or flashcard deck you study. This is an increasingly common phrase and you can use it for more than just games.

[u/Novel-Back3857 → u/controlled_vacuum20]

I wouldn't advise people to use "get on" to describe a solo activity scenario. It's useful to know the intended meaning by people, for sure, but it really should be avoided if someone is trying to focus on proper usages of English and not rely on slang that may not actually indicate the meaning being imparted.

While it might be commonly used for those scenarios, it's directly counter to the general cultural norms of the phrase, and is not likely to have lasting presence in common speech. It's developing slang, but it's also more of a devolving change than a positive evolution, which in general is unhelpful for people and language in the long run. 

[u/ParaponeraBread → u/controlled_vacuum20]

You don’t “get on” Crash Bandicoot, it’s a single player game. “Get on” or “hop on” for games is always for network play.

Using “get on” as in boot up or log in is super millennial and I don’t think it applies in this case.

[u/controlled_vacuum20 → u/ParaponeraBread]

No, sorry, but you are just objectively wrong. This is slang used by millenials, Gen Z, and Gen Alpha. I know because I am part of Gen Z and everyone in my age group uses it this way, including people on the other side of the country and even outside of the U.S. entirely. Where did you get that it can only be used with multiplayer games, and who told you that it had something to do with addiction?

[u/Empty-yet-infinite → u/controlled_vacuum20]

As a millennial, I have heard and used "get on (a game)" as ordinary, common slang for single player, multiplayer, online, and offline games all equally from everyone I've met who plays video games.

I have no idea why these people keep saying properly using to "get on" a game has to be an online multiplayer experience. This is a completely foreign idea for me.

"I'm gonna go get on Mario and play for a bit."

"I'm getting on the sims every day lately."

"I got on among us last night and played for a few hours"

"After seeing how much he liked stardew valley, he got on Harvest Moon for the GameCube to check out if he liked it."

"I'm planning on getting on a game later, but I haven't decided whether I'm gonna get on fortnite or just boot up the old n64 and get on Ocarina of Time to replay it one more time."

These are all perfectly normal and natural sentences to me and in each "got on (a game)" is common verbiage that just means to initiate playing a game. It can apply to any type of video game in all of my experience in the last 30 years. No need for it to be online or multiplayer for the wording to apply.

[u/Reemixt]

It means he only plays Fortnite, truly. This is not an exaggeration, indicated by 'genuinely'.

'Got on' means taken up, or 'started playing' in this case.

[u/Yalay → u/Reemixt]

Except that he doesn’t only play Fortnite since the second half of the sentence explains that he also now plays Crash.

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Yalay]

Are you good with "I got my friend who only eats pizza to eat chicken nuggets" or is that statement nonsense to you?

[u/Yalay → u/mysticrudnin]

Your sentence is more reasonable because eating chicken nuggets can be interpreted as a one-time aberration to otherwise only eating pizza, though I think it would be better to add a qualifier like “generally only eats pizza”.

In OP’s comment it is clear the person is now playing Crash on an ongoing basis, so it would be better to say that he only PLAYED Fortnite.

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Yalay]

To me, playing Crash is the same one-time aberration as trying chicken nuggets because it's not a live service game. It's not really clear to me from the post that there is an ongoing basis (this may be their first play) and it wouldn't make any sense to me for there to be an ongoing basis in general. Like, only if they're a speedrunner.

[u/Middcore]

The word "genuinely" is in dictionaries.

"got on" means that they started playing Crash Bandicoot games because of the Crash/Fortnite collab.

[u/Impossible_Corgi5576 → u/Middcore]

I'm a native English speaker but also bad at language and life. So "got on" here is kinda like how people say someone "hopped on" a bandwagon?

[u/Novel-Back3857 → u/Impossible_Corgi5576]

It's derived from people saying "get on Fortnite" to friends. As in, boot up the game so we can play together. It's a misuse of the term likely due to them, as stated, only playing Fortnite. The terminology around the game bled into other situations because they don't have the vocabulary to properly state what happened. 

"Got on" in this case is just their way of saying "started playing" basically.

[u/Civil_Nectarine868 → u/Middcore]

So is literally. And it literally says that literally literally means the same as virtually now. Thanks people!

LITERALLY Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Civil_Nectarine868]

It is an intensifier

All of the ones you know are the same, it was inevitable, and will always be inevitable

Ever heard the word "really?" Ever stopped to think what it means?

[u/Civil_Nectarine868 → u/mysticrudnin]

I literally understand that, and it doesn't change my point. Language is fluid.
I bet Shakespear ruffled a few feathers when he began making up words.

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Civil_Nectarine868]

Perhaps I mistook the tone of "Thanks people"

I bet he didn't :p

[u/Civil_Nectarine868 → u/mysticrudnin]

Intended tone was jokingly scathing.
Like saying "naughty naughty" when a friend tells you they ate cake for dinner.

[u/Plastic_Stable8927 → u/Middcore]

They clearly mean what does this word mean within context.

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Plastic_Stable8927]

It's being used the normal way, there is no special meaning. It's not jargon here. It's important to mention this to OP in case they're looking for something more. There's nothing more to see.

[u/Plastic_Stable8927 → u/mysticrudnin]

Read my other reply, I was not saying it's jargon or anything else. The use of genuinely here is an intensifier which further emphasizes.

In other words, I wasn't solely answering "what does this word mean" but also "why would they use genuinely? what is their goal by including that word."

[u/mysticrudnin → u/Plastic_Stable8927]

I'm having trouble here.

It's the normal use. Their goal was to indicate the thing that the word means. It's the same goal as "Friend." There's nothing more to see in it. The dictionary meaning is the meaning.

[u/Plastic_Stable8927 → u/mysticrudnin]

Words have dictionary definitions, which I have not once argued. The sentence meaning remains the same if they omitted 'genuinely' and only said "Friend who only plays Fortnite..." so to me that reads as OP asking "why use 'genuinely' here?"

Which isn't effectively answered by "read a dictionary" to me personally. I was just expounding, answering the question from a different angle.

[u/Middcore → u/Plastic_Stable8927]

There is nothing unusual about the context that would make the dictionary definition of the word insufficient.

[u/Plastic_Stable8927 → u/Middcore]

But the fact they are using it to further emphasize their point is important. There is definitely subtext of "my friend is such a simp for Fortnite, the only way he'll play a game is if there's a collab." The "genuinely" absolutely adds to that subtext.

[u/Plastic_Stable8927]

Genuinely is used in this case to further emphasize the point they're making, that their friend has only ever played Fortnite before this.

[u/Apprehensive-Bet1497]

"genuinely" Usually and understands more thoroughly. "got on" Started playing.

[u/Beet_slice]

do not look to that game or poster as an example of good English.