I have two teens, and I am resisting the adoption of some of the new lingo. My kids, probably just to humor me, do not use much of the new lingo at home with me, but I hear their friends use it, so I know that they must use it to. Many of these make me very uncomfortable. Some examples include, but are not limited to:
- low key: This was used frequently by old people before being adopted by young people. The old people would use it to describe a quiet function, for example. Now it seems to be used interchangeably with "kind of" or "sort of." This one probably should not bother me, because "kind of" and "sort of" aren't very pretty phrases themselves.
- a minute: Used interchangeably with "a while." I detest this one, and hate even more that I will probably end up using it someday. Crap.
- extra: Used interchangeable with "overkill," or "over the top." Again, I shouldn't really complain about this one, because it's no worse than the phrases it replaces, but change is hard.
- wait: Used to start an interjection where you ask someone to clarify something. It has always been used this way, but was formerly limited to higher priority items. Now it seems to be used by young people to start any sort of clarifying interjection. "Wait, what flavor of jelly do you have?"
- basic: Mostly a negative description of something simple or plain. I refuse to use this.
- slaps: "Good," "Excellent," "Terrific." I come from a generation that started using the word "Bad" to mean good, so I shouldn't bitch about this one. Still doesn't sit right with me tho.
- banger: "good song." Might be applied to more than songs, but that's all I have heard it used to describe. Meh, I don't hate it, but would feel silly using it. I will probably adopt this one before the others on this list tho.
There are loads of others, but this is all I can think of right now.
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