2 Different Generations Means 2 Different Lexicons
As a former youth director, I am no stranger to teen slang. But the last time I was immersed in it was the early 2000’s. Since then, my age is showing. I am after all a Gen Xer, at least on the tail end of it. My micro-generation is Xiennial, and I do sometimes identify more with the Millenials than the Xers. I think that has something to do with being a late bloomer and waiting to have a child until I was nearly 35. Regardless of my generation, my daughter’s generation (Alpha) makes me feel a bit dated when it comes to slang.
My high school lexicon would have looked something like this:
Aiight
Aiight is a modified version of the phrase all right. However, stretching it out to aiight adds a fun 90s flavor to the phrase. All the cool kids were saying it, aiight?
All That and a Bag of Chips
If something is better than the best, it’s all that and a bag of chips. “My new car is all that and a bag of chips!” My new car isn’t just great, it’s the best.
As If!
The 90s were full of fun sarcastic retorts. As if was a 90s phrase you used in a lot of situations. For example, if your sibling asks you to do their chores, with a little laugh you can retort, “As if!” Basically, it’s short for as if that would ever happen.
Booyah
There are things to be excited about when it comes to 90s phrases, and booyah was one of them. Booyah expresses joy. For example, “Booyah! I aced that test.”
Da Bomb
If you use the 90s phase, da bomb, something was amazing or fabulous. If your friend got a new car, for instance, you might say, “That car is da bomb.” Don’t forget to accentuate da with a little enthusiasm!
Don’t Go There
Nowadays, you say, “Just stop,” or “OMG enough!” However, in the 90s, you’d tell someone, “Don’t go there.” This 90s slang means that is enough, or I don’t want to talk about it. It is a road you don’t want to go down.
My Bad
Rather than saying you were sorry, you would say, “My bad.”
No Duh
The 90s were all about the attitude, and no duh was the king of attitude. Typically, with an eye roll, you used no duh when something someone is saying was obvious. I used this phrase all the time in high school. *This one seems to have survived a couple decades. My daughter will use this one on a daily basis.
Not!
Before there was the famous psych!, there was the 90s not! It’s basically a verbal psych out. For instance, you might say, “I totally loved that song… not!”
Take a Chill Pill
If you need to take a chill pill, then you need to calm down. It was a fun and very 90s way to tell your friends or family to chill out!
Talk To the Hand
Rather than saying, you’ve heard enough, you can throw this fun little 90s phrase into your vocabulary. However, don’t forget to put your hand up when you do it. Can’t get more 90s than that.
Whatever!
Thank Clueless for this little 90s gem. Whatever! works great when you don’t agree with someone but don’t want to fight about it anymore. Rather you just say, “Whatever!” with the right amount of sarcasm. Summer of 1996, I won the camp award “Whatever” for my indiscrete use of this 90’s favorite.
Before moving to the present, I need to share my daughter’s reaction to going through my 90’s lexicon. Pretty sure their were eye rolls and a bit of embarrassment. (Want to know more about embarrassment as a tween right of passage, check out my post called, “Don’t Breathe, Mom. That is so Embarrassing”
My daughter’s lexicon looks nothing like the above but covers similar ground by shortening a phrase, encapsulating a feeling or depth of situation, and it keep adults clueless as to what kids are really talking about. Humoring me, my daughter helped me put together a list of slang words common today. Some she uses often and others, she says aren’t really her thing but are all over TikTok and YouTube.
Rizz
Abbreviation of the word “charisma”, which is the charm, magnetism or ability to attract others.
Sigma
Usually means a popular, dominant, independent leader (sigma male) or someone who’s cool or self-sufficient.
Fanum Tax
Fanum tax means stealing food from a friend. This slang comes from online streamer and YouTuber Kai Cenat whose friend Fanum “taxes” people by stealing food off of other people’s plate.
Sus
Sus is a shortened version of suspicious.
Cap
A lie or something that’s not true.
Bruh
This word is casual for “bro,” “brother” or “dude.” Any gender can use it. One common phrase is “chill broski.” Or my daughter’s favorite:
Brutha
Also a word for “dude”. Add a second “a” to it and it takes on another meaning:
Brutha -a
Now it’s not just a “dude”. It’s a “dude” doing something nasty.
Low Key
Low key is another way of saying that something or someone is secret, subtle or low-profile.
Flex
To show off or boast about what you have, your abilities or achievements.
Glow Up
This means a makeover or transformation from bad to good.
Chopped
It means the “ugliest” or most disgusting of them all.
Beef
It describes an ongoing issue or conflict between two or more people. In my day, it was called “drama”.
Gains
Popularized by the hodgetwins on YouTube, this is all about big muscles and lean physique from a lifestyle aimed at looking fit and fine. “I’ve been making ALL KINDS OF GAINS” “Let’s go to the gym and make some gains” “That bro looks pretty gainsy”
Gyatt
This is a term for excitement or admiration for someone’s physical features, most often used when referencing shapely buttocks. Funny note about this one: my husband attempted to use this slang word in a sentence every day for a week. Not sure our daughter found it funny, but she humored him as she often does.
Not sure this post had much of a purpose other than connecting with my girl and giving us the chance to giggle over what is timeless: generational slang that gives young people their own unique bent and keeps the prying ears of us adults confused and out of their business. Hope you had as much fun as we did going through this post. And if you need to screen shot some of the words for your own pocket dictionary, I give you my permission!
