The Story Behind Simone Biles’ Goat Necklace

By now, you've seen Simone Biles wearing her precious goat necklace during the Olympic games. So, what's the story behind Simone Biles' goat necklace? She's obviously often called "The GOAT," which stands for the greatest of all time. But, the story goes a bit deeper.

Simone Biles is the meaning of the word "comeback." During the 2024 Paris Olympics, she became the most winning American gymnast in the history of the Olympic Games. That's such a huge deal, and she earned it. I don't understand the naysayers who want to see Biles fall. I guess when you're on top, people want to bring you down. But, she's on top, and she's staying there. Even though she didn't win the gold today (Aug. 5), she still has more gold medals than any other gymnast.

When she's interviewed after her appearances, she's often wearing a goat necklace. It's a white gold necklace, and it's quite stunning. Of course, people who don't know any better have started to come up with all kinds of crazy, uneducated and inaccurate conspiracy theories about what this necklace stands for and why Biles wears it.

It's a diamond-covered goat necklace, which was custom made for Biles by Janet Heller, founder and CEO of Janet Heller Fine Jewelry in Calabasas, California.

"She reached out to us about five weeks ago to say that she wanted to do a goat necklace," Heller told NBC News. According to Heller, Biles didn't give her too many specific things she was looking for in the necklace, and it took some variations before finally getting the winning necklace. "What she didn’t know we would be doing, which was a huge surprise to her, was that we made it 3D," Heller added. Also, the necklace has 546 diamonds, so it's way more valuable than you might have guessed watching it on TV.

Biles knows that some people don't like her necklace. She's okay with that. "My GOAT necklace is just kind of an ode, because the people love it and some people hate it," she said during a recent news conference. She added, "So, it’s like the best of both worlds," where she knew "people will go crazy over it."

She added in an interview with BBC that it's also kind of a tribute to her "haters," stating, "and the haters hate it so I love that even more and it's just a special part of me that I have here, as well as in the village I have like a stuffed goat, just to get a reminder: 'You can go out there, you can do it, you've done it before, so let's go.'" Do you like Biles' necklace? Contact me with your thoughts.

Things change so rapidly these days, that it's easy to become unfamiliar with the trendy slang words that all the kids are saying. So, if you're looking for the hottest slang words to make you sound cool, you're going to need a crash course in slang for today from experts. Mind you, just because a slang word is popular, that doesn't mean you have to adapt it into your vocabulary. But, if you're curious what hot slang words are being used right now, here's a tally.

So, where does slang originate? Many times, these pop culture slang terms are first coined on a popular TV show, movie, video game or in popular music. For example, Beyoncé forever made popping the question extra cool with her 2008 single, "Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)," which got men and women talking about if they should "put a ring on it," which sounds so much cooler than "get engaged." Also, today, social media can birth slang words. Experts also note that many young people check out what slang words influencers on TikTok and Instagram are using in videos and photo posts. So, many trendy phrases and words originate on social media these days.

It's also worth noting that while the Millennials were often known for the hottest slang words back in the day, today, it's all about Gen Z and Gen Alpha. They're the ones who are really setting the trends for slang words. It's wild to think that Gen Alpha is already coining slang words. Generation Alpha are those born from 2010-2024, so they are super young right now. Can babies really coin slang terms? Not really, but the oldest kids in this generation are just now becoming teenagers, so it makes sense that they can start to have a real impact on pop culture and slang words and phrases. In fact, a recent viral TikTok post is super funny that shows a millennial mom, Jennifer Maxwell, enlisting her 10-year-old daughter to teach her some new slang terms. Things went not so well, and Maxwell said she really has "no idea" what her daughter is "saying half the time anymore."

But, not all slang has to be so "extra." There are some simple slang words and phrases that you can use now to sound hip, or as hip as possible. Now, let's get into the hottest slang words to make you sound cool, from slang experts.

I don't like this slang term. It just sounds silly to me. But, "extra" means "overly dramatic" or "too much." So, if someone says you're extra, don't say, "extra what?" Just tell them that they're being "extra" for using the term.

This is kind of a cute one. If you're crushing on someone, you might say, "Hey, they are living rent-free in my head." It means you have someone on your mind.

This is an interesting slang term, because it really means the same thing as its traditional definition. If someone says, "That's so cringe," they mean something is embarrassing or uncomfortable. Just typing this is kind of cringe for me.

This one isn't new, but dope is still, well, a dope slang term. It means "awesome." So, if someone says something you did is dope, it's a good thing.

This one might be getting old. But, the phrase "Let's go" is super popular these days. I see almost every musician I follow use it when they announce a new release. I'm guilty of this, as you can see in the post below. It's also popular at sporting events.

A "Betty" is an attractive girl or a babe. Someone recently called me a Betty, and I admit that I had to search for the term online to see what the heck they meant. At first, I thought it was an insult.

This one is kind of funny. "OK Boomer" is really popular right now, and it's basically when someone from an older generation is complaining or being condescending towards the younger generation. If someone hates the new music out there, you might say, "OK Boomer," to them and shrug.