Have you guys ever read a YA novel where it's obvious that the author is an old person? Certain words are dead giveaways as to what generation the author is from. I used the word "teenybopper" in one of my first drafts of Generations and luckily a beta reader caught this outdated slang and asked if I grew up in the 60's. Of course, anyone under the age of 40 (I said UNDER Paulashawn, so this doesn't include you.) knows that the word "tween" is now used instead of "teenybopper." Also, I read a book awhile ago where the author had the teenage protagonist use the word "dweeb" frequently. Um, hello 1980's, yo momma called and wants her banana-clip back.
In case you can't tell if you're old and out of touch with kids these days, here's a list that might help you.
You might be old if you use words like:
Rad
Radical
Gnarly
Groovy
Groovy Kind of Love
Funky
Funky Cold Medina
Gag
Gag Me With a Spoon
Gag Me With a Pitchfork
Grody
Grody to the Max
Max Headrom
Psychedelic
Spaz
And some say that this word is out as well: Awesome. Which makes me 159 years old because I use that word to the Max.
But if you can't use all those words, then how will you speak? Will you open your mouth only to have silence come out? No! You will become a hipstar! You will learn to be dope. (Dope is now good, not bad. Which actually is a problem in and of itself, but we're not going to be down on Gen Y'ers.) Here's some words to add to your vocab:
Kicks: this is not what you do to your teen when they don't take the garbage out, even though you have asked them 1000 times; these are shoes.
Fly : this is not what Orville and Wilbur did; this means cool, hip, or attractive.
Hipster: this is when you bump your sister with your hip.
Creeper: In high school, this was the type of guy who would constantly ask me out, even after I said no at least 53 times.
Emo: the type of guy I dated in high school when I wanted to give my parents a heart attack.
Chillaxin': a type of laxative that leaves your insides feeling wintery fresh.
Swagger: A yummy odor of Old Spice.
# : what you use when you think you are funny on Twitter or Instagram.
Like: what you do on FB so people feel popular.
YOLO: This is said by people who don't believe a word Shirley Maclaine says.
Sick: the month of February at the Folkman household.
Now it's time for you to confess: what words do you use that are no longer en vogue? Hopefully no one lists words like Daddy-o or "The Fonz."
What new words have you added to your verbage? And by all means, if you've heard kids saying something you don't understand, ask me to define it for you; I would be glad to help. (But use caution. Not all words used these days are appropriate. Shocking, I know!)
Peace out.
15 comments:
I love the new words kids use, they're so funny. I'm just glad the word "phat" didn't stick around long. That was an ugly one, if you ask me.
I hope Didi gets a chance to chime in on this one, 'cause she should know some good new verbage to share with us. (Why is my word verbage underlined? Isn't that a word?) Anyway...
Didi has adopted my old word "grody" lately, even though I don't use it anymore. She uses it in the most inappropriate contexts though...like when she said last weekend that seeing Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn kissing was grody. WHAT?! As IF!!!
I love the word "neat" that comes from my mom's generation, but mostly I still just overuse the words "cool" and "awesome". Oh, and "totally". And, "NOT!!"
The most recent Kid History episode resurrected a fantastic slang term: "FACE!" and it's brother, "FACIAL DISCRACIAL!" which I think is completely hilarious. I wish my kids could learn how to use those 'cause they're so funny. Wait, no I don't. They're not very nice ;).
Just make sure "dude" doesn't go out of style!
Your so funny!
Miller!!!! Hi!
I don't think I've caught any new, hip words from any of my kiddos. None of them really use slang that I've noticed.
I do use: sweet, awesome, cool, and creeper. But I still think a lot of kids use them too, so I don't feel too old, even though they tell me that I'm really old.
How about "EPIC FAIL"... or just "EPIC" or just "fail" the overuse of those two words drives me batty! Clearly I'm not fly enough to understand it.
We use "bad", "dude" and "awesome" at lot. #howlameifawesomeisout
JazznJenna: be glad that your daughter thinks kissing is grody. You wouldn't want her rewinding the scenes and taking notes, would you? BTW, I practiced kissing with my Kirk Cameron poster when I was her age. He never really kissed back. (Don't get any ideas Didi!) Where did they get facial disracial from? Too funny.
STEVE MILLER'Z ON DA BLOG!!! I feel like the coolest person alive now. I checked with the guys at Urban Dictionary and they said the word "dude" will forever be cool. Phew. But they did say "stud" is on it's way out, which worries me because that's your middle name. You might have to get it changed on your birth certificate. :(
Nicole: your students say you're old? I'm never coming to visit your school. I think you would seem younger to them if you didn't call them kiddos and called them "peeps" instead. They would be all over that.
Anne: You are flytastic, and that's why you don't like EPIC FAIL. Those words were so two years ago. That was a most impressive use of a hashtag. I'm going to recommend you to the Twitter hall of fame.
Weeeelll... I must be old too. I tell my brothers fail but usually only do it to the kids at school. I like to use "chick - a - dee" and splendiferous but I never said swag or legit. I would say a'ight and I still call people gangster on a regular basis. I love the word bogged andto put most in front of adjectives. It's most excellent. I say lame, lamesauce, jerk, jerkface, and loserface a lot....I think that sums the vocab up... ^_^
Devree: You're not old, you're just too smart for trendy slang. I need you to use bogged in a sentence; it sounds like a word I need to use, so long as it's not in reference to getting bogged in mud on your 4 wheeler. (BTW, in some states, they call them Quads, but they sound much more manly if you say 4 wheeler, don't you think?) I like jerkface and loserface a lot, but I don't think I should say those around the children. Please tell me you never call your brothers those names!
I'm so glad to hear you tell Devree that she's too smart to use trendy teen talk. I feel the same way about myself. And I am with it enough to know that "tween" means the age between adolescence and teenager, so 10-12 ish. Really, a very small time frame. Not enough to really fret myself about what they are saying. See, I am too smart!!
I think "snarky" is my favorite descriptive word these days. I also use "dodgy" and "sketchy" quite often. I'm really not up on teen speak. I hang out with the teenage girls at church and sometimes I have no idea what they're saying. My MS in Communicative Disorders doesn't quite stretch that far!
PaulaShawn: are you trying to tell us you just got your acceptance letter from Mensa? I'm so proud! I do feel like you should thank me for compelling you to get your smart on, since you always wanted to be the exact opposite of me. Oh wait, that would mean I'm cotton headed ninny muggins. That's not very nice Paula!
Sally: LOL. (you know what that one means, right? JUST TEASING. I think you might say that I am often snarky!) I'm wondering if your degree in communicative disorders can help people who only know how to text and not speak on the phone: more specifically, can you help my teens get the courage to actually talk to girls on the phone instead of just texting? Can you also use dodgy in a sentence that doesn't pertain to dodgeball?
My kids are too young still to critize my outdated vocabulary or bring home any new words. I'm sure that will change within the next 3 years. I'll officially become a DORK. I don't really use that one except very sarcastically but I do use "dude" since I have all these little dudes around here. Despite what you say I still worry it's on it's way out and I should stop using it!
bigskyboys: Can you use those together in a sentence please? For example, "That dorky dude just fell off the chairlift." Dude can't be on its way out because they use it all the time on Psych and Psych is phenomenally cool. Why can't phenomena be a trendy cool word? I think I'll start singing it to the Muppet song "Mahnamana" and see if it catches on.
I call my Dad "pops" which is more like 1950's slang, and I say creepazoid instead of creeper. Creeper is not so 1980's. Also, I loved to say "Oh my holy heckin flippin dang" in high school. Now, if that isn't embarrassing I don't know what is! I also like to use gangsta speak nicely. For instance One gangsta might say "None yo bidness homey. I would say None of your business home boy. I also use "Reek"As in your feet reek. That seems like an 80's word.
Team C: So are you saying the Son's of Provo song was a copyright infringement based on your high school phrase? I hope a lawsuit is in the works. You should have a trademark next to your name. I think "Reek" is a perfectly viable word for a mom to use, even if it is from the 80s, because let's face it: kids frequently are reeky, (or would it be reekie?) especially the tween boy kind. They're called Stinkons for a reason.
JazznJenna was right. I use grody all the time. It is one of my favorites, even if it is old. Who cares, right? I got my friends and band director to use that word as well. I have heard the words "epic fail" but that was mostly last year. Now my family uses "Facial Discracial!":) In my classes at school, my friends mostly use "spaz" and sometimes "creeper". But the most common now is "stalker" or "stalkerish". I guess that's all I can come up with for now. :)
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