Dupe vs. Knock-off

The term “Knockoff” in relation to being an imitation of a product, has been used since about 1966. The term was used as an insult, describing a product that was a cheaply made replica. For the longest time, owning the “knock-off” version of a product was highly frowned upon and was not something people would aspire to. Recently, the term “dupe” has been used as a term of endearment for an imitation of a product. Creators often share the “knock-off” or “dupe” of a product that is significantly cheaper than the original. People will now congratulate themselves on finding “dupes”. Holding the same definition, why is dupe more prevalently used than knock-off and what about these two terms are so different.

Dupe, which is short for duplicate, has ebbed and flowed out of popularity since the early 2000s. In 2022 however, the term found its place on TikTok. The word can be seen written in many variations, dupe, doop, etc. The word also became popular around the time that the economy started taking a toll on society and people were having to make more financially smart choices. In early 2023, there was a trend where people would go into a Target or other big box store, and yell a product that is similar to the one that they are holding along with the word dupe. This trend, like most, lasted about 2-3 weeks. This solidified the word into the Generation Z slang vocabulary.

A knock-off and a dupe can both be defined as an iteration of a luxury product. In theory the terms are synonymous, however when you look at the context of each word they are quite different. A knock-off is more closely related to a cheap iteration of a luxury product. For example, many shops found in places like Chinatown sell knock-offs. They tend to fall apart easily and aren’t good quality. Knock-offs are looked down upon especially in the fashion industry, because there is no credit given to the creator and it doesn’t have any differentiating elements. A dupe however is a cheaper alternative to a luxury product. They have similar elements to the expensive product, but they don’t diminish in quality. Dupes won’t always be the cheapest option, but are the most similar in quality and likeness. One can find a plethora of dupes on Amazon. Dupes are more widely accepted. Amazon has become the hub for dupes, many creators will link dupes on their Amazon Storefront and will share them amongst their viewers.

The word knock-offs isn’t completely depleted from the human vocabulary, but is going out of fashion. Dupe is taking over as the most commonly used word for an iteration of a product. A knock-off can be taken as an insult to the creators hard work designing and producing a product while a dupe complements the revolutionary elements of a product. Dupe is one of those words that will end up sticking in slang vocabulary as it perfectly explains how social media users shop nowadays.