Going ER

Definition

"Going ER" is an incel term for committing an act of mass murder. The initials are those of the man who killed six people and injured fourteen others in Isla Vista, California, in May 2014 before killing himself — an attack he framed as revenge on women who had rejected him. The Anti-Defamation League's glossary records the term plainly: "'Going ER' refers to the act of committing mass murder, as inspired by Rodger." ^[1] This page names the phrase because parents, teachers and safeguarding leads need to recognise it — not to explain how anything is done, and this entry contains no such detail.

Why it matters

This is the most serious term in this glossary, and it is not edgy humour. Within the darkest corners of incel spaces the Isla Vista attacker is glorified as a "saint", his image turned into memes and his name invoked by later attackers. ^[2] "Going ER" belongs to that same current: it treats a mass killing as an aspiration. Safeguarding bodies, including UK Prevent glossaries, list it precisely because its appearance is a signal that someone has moved from grievance toward the celebration of violence.

That is why sincere or even "joking" use is a warning sign, not a phase to ignore. It does not mean a young person is dangerous — most who encounter this language are absorbing it, not planning anything — but it does mean they have reached the end of the blackpill pipeline where despair is reframed as a reason to hurt others, and it warrants a calm, direct response. For the wider question of how real this threat is, see the check on whether incels are a terror threat.