Recently, we enjoyed a month having a foreign exchange student stay in our home. It was a great experience but I often worried about our communication. The student spoke good and proper English. I noticed, however, that none of us, especially the young adults, could get through a sentence without slang of all kinds. I had to constantly remind my kids to translate what they had just said into real English. It was quite an eye-opener and got me thinking about modern-day slang. Let me review some of the things I learned.
If you have teens, you may have noticed that "sick" does not necessarily mean sick as you know it. In today's lingo, you have arrived at that daunted place if your 15 year old says (this is totally fictional, of course): "Yo Pops, just want ya to know, you're totally sick." In this tale of fiction (because no teen is going to say that to any parent, right), I have been informed that I have arrived at the state of being great, cool, or awesome. That makes sense doesn't it--sick equals cool.
So, if that were the case (that I were sick), then I would be qualified to say the following cool talk to my wife, for instance: "What up son, its time for a chill sesh cuz I have some mad paper." Translation, I think: "Hey honey, do you want to go on a date since I have some extra money." Son does not mean son at all--its more like dude. You don't go out, you just hang out or have a relaxing chill session with money that just happens to be made of paper. Got it?
See, this language quagmire can actually make some sense if you get into it. Here's a real example I saw today on my Nephew's Facebook page. Now, just so you know, this is a bright young college student who loves sports, gets straight A's, and speaks or writes just like your kids. See if you can make sense of this. "
Let me leave you with a few more examples of modern lingo and give you my words of wisdom in the end. If your kids say they "are down with that" then they're in or ready or in agreement. "Let's go to Cafe Rio." "Okay, I'm down with that." Or, there's "Do you want the mad low down?" They just want to know if you want the latest or want to know what happened. Let's roll or let's bounce" means lets go. He's got mad hops or, in other words, he can jump really high.
A few more points. Remember an email is not a text and a text is not an email (never intermingle the words or you will pay through ridicule). I know, they both seem to be the same things to me too--just a bunch of electronic words. Don't go there. I have fairly warned you; I did not make the rules. Also, though this is old news to most of you by now, please do not call your flip flop shoes thongs. The trauma for you and your kids is just not worth it, especially if you do it in front of any of your kid's friends. Finally, good looking people are definitely not "foxes" anymore. If you try that, you will get an incredulous look from your dumbfounded kid right before they laugh you out of the house. Remember, good looking people are hot.
Also, forget understanding the dating scene. Don't even try to figure out the progression of what we called dating/courting. Our kids start somewhere around chillin, move to hanging out, and after various levels of that I think they get to dating, I think, and....I really don't know what to call the rest.
As a word of warning, if you mess this kind of basic stuff up, your kid is likely to call you a deuce. I'm still trying to figure out what that means. Let me know if you find out.
Just so you don't feel too perplexed. I did have a child recently say the old familiar words "It's none of your bees wax." When I called him on it, I think I concluded that he was just mocking me or flattering me by using one of the things I might say. Either way, I took comfort in knowing that he was capable of speaking my language.
For now, peace out Homes.
 |
| Whose language is correct? Young or older. |
If you have teens, you may have noticed that "sick" does not necessarily mean sick as you know it. In today's lingo, you have arrived at that daunted place if your 15 year old says (this is totally fictional, of course): "Yo Pops, just want ya to know, you're totally sick." In this tale of fiction (because no teen is going to say that to any parent, right), I have been informed that I have arrived at the state of being great, cool, or awesome. That makes sense doesn't it--sick equals cool.
So, if that were the case (that I were sick), then I would be qualified to say the following cool talk to my wife, for instance: "What up son, its time for a chill sesh cuz I have some mad paper." Translation, I think: "Hey honey, do you want to go on a date since I have some extra money." Son does not mean son at all--its more like dude. You don't go out, you just hang out or have a relaxing chill session with money that just happens to be made of paper. Got it?
See, this language quagmire can actually make some sense if you get into it. Here's a real example I saw today on my Nephew's Facebook page. Now, just so you know, this is a bright young college student who loves sports, gets straight A's, and speaks or writes just like your kids. See if you can make sense of this. "
Let me leave you with a few more examples of modern lingo and give you my words of wisdom in the end. If your kids say they "are down with that" then they're in or ready or in agreement. "Let's go to Cafe Rio." "Okay, I'm down with that." Or, there's "Do you want the mad low down?" They just want to know if you want the latest or want to know what happened. Let's roll or let's bounce" means lets go. He's got mad hops or, in other words, he can jump really high.
A few more points. Remember an email is not a text and a text is not an email (never intermingle the words or you will pay through ridicule). I know, they both seem to be the same things to me too--just a bunch of electronic words. Don't go there. I have fairly warned you; I did not make the rules. Also, though this is old news to most of you by now, please do not call your flip flop shoes thongs. The trauma for you and your kids is just not worth it, especially if you do it in front of any of your kid's friends. Finally, good looking people are definitely not "foxes" anymore. If you try that, you will get an incredulous look from your dumbfounded kid right before they laugh you out of the house. Remember, good looking people are hot.
Also, forget understanding the dating scene. Don't even try to figure out the progression of what we called dating/courting. Our kids start somewhere around chillin, move to hanging out, and after various levels of that I think they get to dating, I think, and....I really don't know what to call the rest.
As a word of warning, if you mess this kind of basic stuff up, your kid is likely to call you a deuce. I'm still trying to figure out what that means. Let me know if you find out.
Just so you don't feel too perplexed. I did have a child recently say the old familiar words "It's none of your bees wax." When I called him on it, I think I concluded that he was just mocking me or flattering me by using one of the things I might say. Either way, I took comfort in knowing that he was capable of speaking my language.
For now, peace out Homes.
 |
| My Dad teaches the youngsters how to "peace out." |
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