Face Card & Other TikTok Terms for Card Players

By Alex J. Coyne for © Great Bridge Links 2022

Have you ever heard someone referred to as a face card?

TikTok is one of the most popular social media websites right now, with content often spilling over to other platforms like YouTube and Facebook. The start of TikTok brings almost a whole new vocabulary to keep track of, where terms might not necessarily mean what you think!

While to card players and tabletop fans, face card means Kings, Queens and Jacks, the common expression now has a second meaning that is increasingly mentioned on TikTok.

Here’s what to know about face cards, and how to find your way around cool card content on TikTok.

The Face Card: TikTok’s New Term

Face Card: Definition I

Card players are familiar with the term “face card”, which is used throughout most games to refer to the court cards (K, Q, and J).

Face Card: Definition II

The term “face card” has a common alternate meaning that can be traced back to rap music.

According to RapDictionary.com, the term can be a colloquial phrase for a hundred dollar bill. Other resources like Urban Dictionary estimate that the reference has been common since at least the 1980s.

The United States dollar bill, of course, sports Ben Franklin’s face.

Face Card: Definition III

A “face card” has also come to mean one more thing…

Popularized on TikTok and soon widespread on other social media platforms, “face card” can refer to someone who is extremely attractive, has physical appeal and confidence – or someone who uses their “face card” to get what they want.

The term can be used with others, like saying “[their] face card wasn’t declined” or “use your face card and get them to buy you a drink”.

Someone can also say, “[they] have a valid face card for sure!”

While it’s a bit of an unusual compliment, I’ll take it…

Another Term from TikTok

Face card isn’t the only popular TikTok term that references playing cards.

According to a 2005 Urban Dictionary, the somewhat insulting term “card face” can be used to refer to someone who is “overly obsessed with trading cards”.
Win something? The simple letter “w” is sometimes used as synonymous with a win on social media sites like TikTok.
The term “WWCD” can be used to refer to “Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner”.