What does 'touch grass' mean?

“Go touch grass” is one of those phrases that sounds like nonsense the first time you hear it and makes perfect sense the second. It is a nudge, usually not a kind one, to log off and rejoin the world. It also happens to be decent advice.

What does “touch grass” mean?

Touch grass means go and do something in the real world, away from your screen. Merriam-Webster defines it as taking part in “normal activities in the real world”, especially as opposed to online life.^[1] Dictionary.com lists two senses: to go outside and enjoy nature, often as a hint to spend less time on devices, and, more broadly, to engage with reality.^[2]

The caveat is that nobody really means the grass. You can touch grass on a pavement, in a library or at a friend’s kitchen table. The point is the opposite of the screen, not the lawn.

You will see it in a few forms: “touch grass”, “go touch grass”, “touch some grass”, and the self-aware “I need to touch grass”, which usually means “I have been scrolling for three hours and I can feel it”.

Is “touch grass” an insult?

Mostly yes, a mild one. Dictionary.com notes that its most common use is as a nudge to log off, and that it is often aimed at people who seem out of touch with everyday life.^[2] In an online argument it means “you are taking the internet far too seriously”.

The caveat: tone is everything. Said by a stranger in a comment thread, it is dismissive. Said by a friend, or about yourself, it can be gentle and even fond. If someone tells you to touch grass, it is worth a second’s honest thought about whether they have a point before you reply.

When did “touch grass” become a phrase?

2016, according to Merriam-Webster, which gives that as the first known use in the online sense.^[1] Dictionary.com puts its first record a little more loosely, somewhere between 2015 and 2020.^[2]

The words themselves are not new. Dictionary.com points to a far older, literal use about ponies refusing to touch grass or fodder.^[2] The slang meaning, though, belongs to the last decade of internet culture, and it spread fast enough that dictionaries took notice within a few years.

Is “touch grass” in the dictionary?

Yes. Merriam-Webster added touch grass in its batch of around 200 new words and phrases announced on 4 October 2024.^[3] Dictionary.com lists it too, as an idiom.^[2] That puts it in the same company as a lot of recent internet vocabulary; our guide to brain rot words covers more of it.

Does touching grass actually help?

Being outdoors does seem to help, with the usual caveat that most of the evidence shows links rather than proof. The largest study we know of on how much nature time matters looked at 19,806 people in England. Compared with no time in nature that week, people who spent at least 120 minutes were more likely to report good health and high well-being; the benefits levelled off at around 200 to 300 minutes a week, and it did not matter whether the time came in one long visit or several short ones.^[4]

Two smaller experiments point the same way. In one, a 90-minute walk in a natural setting reduced self-reported rumination (going over the same worries) and activity in a brain area linked to it, while a 90-minute urban walk did not.^[5] In another, walking in nature, or even looking at pictures of nature, improved scores on attention tasks compared with urban settings.^[6] Our piece on whether nature improves focus goes into this research in more detail.

The caveat is that these studies were not testing grass, or phones. Some of the benefit of “touching grass” is probably just the break from the screen, the movement and the daylight. This is general information, not medical advice; if you are struggling with your mood, talk to your GP.

Does touching grass with bare feet help?

We have not found good-quality evidence that bare feet add anything special. You will see claims online about “grounding” or “earthing”, the idea that skin contact with the ground has particular health effects. We could not find strong, independent evidence behind those claims, so we would treat them with caution.

If you enjoy walking barefoot on a lawn, carry on: it is a lovely thing to do and it does pull your attention into the present. Just know that the better-supported benefit is being outside at all, whatever is on your feet.

How do you touch grass?

Leave the phone behind, or at least in a pocket, and go somewhere outside for long enough to notice it. That is genuinely all. Some honest, practical versions:

1. The ten-minute version. Walk round the block without headphones. Notice three things you have never noticed before. Our piece on the unaccompanied walk is about exactly this.
2. The weekly version. Aim for about two hours outdoors across the week, which is roughly where the research above starts to see a difference.^[4] A park, a towpath, a garden or a walk to the shops all count.
3. The phone version. If you keep getting pulled back in, make the phone harder to reach rather than relying on willpower. Our guide on how to use your phone less has simple settings and habits that help.
4. The rainy version. Stand at an open door for five minutes with a cup of tea. Weather is still the real world.
5. The social version. Meet someone in person. The second sense of touch grass, engaging with real life, counts just as much as the first.

If you are telling yourself to touch grass after a long scroll, start smaller than you think. Our page on how to stop doomscrolling is a good next read, and if a notebook helps you get out of the door, The Walk Log is our quiet way of keeping track.