c2c
teens
ages 1 4 - 1 8
What Did She Say? Defining Teen Slang BY COLLEEN MCTIERNAN
These days, it seems like teens have a language all their own. With shortened words, acronyms, conjoined words and words that almost seem to appear out of thin air, it can be hard for parents to keep up with the hip lingo. So, to help you out the next time you just can’t figure out what the heck your teenager is saying, here is a brief guide to some of the more common slang teens use today.
Shortened Words
Conjoined Words Teens love to play Dr. Frankenstein with words these days. They’ll mash up any number of words, and sometimes the results seem truly monstrous, especially if you’re a language lover. Frenemy – Someone who is both a friend and enemy Tope – Totally and dope Graycation – Going on vacation with grandparents
Abbreviations Like the above shortened words, abbreviations often arise from texting. But unlike shortened words, it is far less easy to figure out what exactly those abbreviations your teen is using stand for. As someone who has seen FTW (for the win) confused for someone cursing the world at large, I know just how annoying abbreviations can be to decode.
Texting often leads teens to shorten words, and it’s when those shortened words make the jump from online to everyday language that parents can get confused. Sometimes the abbreviations are intuitive, but other times they just sound like gibberish. Awk – Awkward Totes – Totally
Bae – Before Anyone Else. Also thought to be derivative of babe or baby.
Cray – Crazy Adorbs – Adorable
GOAT – Greatest Of All Time
Whatevs – Whatever
IKR – I Know, Right?
The feels – Feelings
AF – As, well … I’m sure you can figure out what the F is for
Ship – Relationship. Teens will often use this as a verb and say “I ship it” when they like a couple together.
OTP – One True Pairing OG – Original Gangster
Fam – Family
Words With Double Meaning You may hear your teens using words that you’re familiar with, but in a very different context. Don’t worry, your teen hasn’t been slacking on her vocab lessons. There is some slang that gives new meaning to common words. On the other hand, you may hear your teens using words that Merriam Webster has never heard of. Again, don’t worry. Slang is to blame for that, too.
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Lit – Can be used to describe something awesome, or someone who is very intoxicated
Cyph – Smoking pot
Gucci – Good Basic – Describes someone who likes mainstream things
Snatched – When something looks really good
Fleek – On point
Netflix and chill – Not nearly as innocent as it sounds, this is code for hooking up ✽