In social media slang, ratio means a post losing out in likes: a reply gets more likes than the post itself, the crowd sides with the person who replied, and the author has lost the argument. Hence got ratioed, lost on likes. Sometimes people reply with the single word ratio, a call to like the comment until it overtakes the post. The tone is mocking; it's the language of X (Twitter) and comment sections. It isn't used out loud, in IELTS Speaking or in essays; the neutral version is the reply got more likes than the post.
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get ratioed; ratio + someone; reply: ratio
- the minister's post got ratioed in an hour, everyone's sharing the same reply
- his tweet about tipping got ratioed so badly that he deleted it
- someone replied 'ratio' under her post and it already has twice the likes
What changed
First versionHis post got ratio by a sixteen-year-old with ten followers.
RevisionHis post got ratioed by a sixteen-year-old with ten followers.
In the dictionary, ratio is only a noun, so the verb form is easy to miss. In slang, ratio also works as a verb, and being outvoted like this is get ratioed, with -ed, like get blocked. Only -ed was added.
Ratio isn't bullying and doesn't have to involve insults: the author was simply out-liked by a better reply. In ordinary English, ratio is the neutral word for a proportion, and it's fine in an essay too: the ratio of students to teachers.
Your turn
Nobody agreed with her post, and a reply calling it nonsense got ten times more likes: she totally got ___.
Show the answer
ratioed — The reply under her post got ten times more likes, which is exactly a ratio: she got ratioed. Ghosted means someone disappeared and stopped replying, but people did reply to her, and very actively.
Tell a friend how someone's post got ratioed: say what the post was about and what the reply that overtook it said.
that chef's post saying pineapple pizza is a crime got ratioed by a reply that just said 'it's delicious, deal with it'.
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