weeb

weeb is short for weeaboo.

previous meaning: a person who is obsessed with anime and japanese culture
meaning since 2016: a person who watches anime

reasons for change of usage:
in 2016, anime has increased its popularity exponentially due to different major influences, some of which include -
- netflix buying into the anime industry
- kim kardashian promoting darling in the franxx on her instagram
- as a result, normalization of anime in western countries
- "anime aesthetic" fashion, citypop, lofi, hiphop music with anime influence being widely popularized
- manga slowly but surely outselling western comics

in general it can be assumed that anime has since then turned into somewhat of a "normie" interest as (many, not all) people are now a lot more accepting and self expression for this interest is also widely more appreciated. this means, that the term "weeb" is being thrown around with a lot less weight, just like for example the term "nerd" is.

tyler: jesus look at this weeb, running around with anime merch and saying shit like "baka" and "ohayou"
jordan: ok thats cringe but, aren't you also a weeb? you just talked about watching MHA yesterday
tyler: wtf no i'm not a weeb? i just watch some shows because they're really good, t-trust me dude
jordan: okay weeb