What does “lajki” mean in Polish, and why is it spelled that way?

The clip ends with “wszyscy zaczęli zostawiać lajki” — “everyone started leaving likes,” the internet’s ultimate stamp of approval. Lajki is the English word “like” respelled and folded fully into Polish grammar: it takes a plural ending (-i), declines through the cases, and even has its own verb, lajkować, “to like a post.”

The spelling isn’t random — Polish always writes the English “-ike” diphthong as “aj” (compare majonez for “mayonnaise,” or jacht for “yacht”), so lajk looks odd on the page but sounds exactly like the English original once you say it aloud. It’s a young word, mostly spoken and typed rather than dictionary-official, but instantly understood by anyone who uses social media.