“Hey Bro, Whassup?“
“Nothing Bro, just chilling.”
“Listen Dude, did you watch the latest video of JordIndian?
“Lol. It was so litt man!”
If you were to read or listen to this, it would be natural
for you to assume that it is a conversation between two young boys. Well, this is how teenage girls also talk to
each other these days – addressing each other as bro and dude!
There is a whole new lingo that amazingly every little kid
seems to be aware of. It is just adults who need a new dictionary or thesaurus to
understand their slang words and acronyms.
Take the above sentence – ‘It is so littt’ . Here ‘litt’ means something that is fantastic. The greater number of ‘t’s added to the word
indicates an increase in its amazing-quotient!
This new language that teenagers and the youth use is all
pervasive – SMS messages, Instagram posts, telephone conversations –
everywhere, their dialect is filled with
short, terse sentences that may often be incomplete. For a generation that grew up with Wren and
Martin, ploughing through their incorrect sentence constructs can be
frustrating. But for gen-next, acronyms
are the most sought-after words.
Here is a glossary of some of the words popularly used by them – this will help us understand our young friends better!
IKR – I know, Right!
When using this, you are vehemently agreeing with whatever the sender is
suggesting. My teenage daughter uses
this quite frequently in her messages – especially when a friend of hers shares
some bit of gossip about a mutual friend from school who acts in a certain way.
GTG, TTYL– You will find these two used one after the
other. Sentence construct - Dude, my Mom’s calling, GTG – Got to Go. TTYL – Talk to you later!
YOLO - You
Only Live Once. This is a profound
truth of life – used often as an excuse when you especially do or indulge in
something extravagant. This word is a
passport to leading life on your terms.
LOL – Laugh Out Loud.
When you find the message interesting and funny, you remark LOL. You
may not laugh but will use it to convey that you found the message funny.
ROFL – Rolling on the Floor Laughing – You use this when
you find something extremely humorous or funny.
It is so funny that you are rolling on the floor with laughter.
LMAO – Laughing My Ass Off – Another expression used
when you find something extremely funny.
This is used a lot more informally than ROFL.
BFF – Best Friends Forever - Not to be confused with BF (Boyfriend), a BFF is like a soul sister – understands your
every mood and puts up with your idiosyncrasies.
OK BOOMER – When your millennial agrees to
unwillingly accept your suggestion and go with it. He or she uses this disparagingly to convey
that your ideas are old and quaint and that you are an old-timer.
TBH – To be Honest.
When you try to soften the criticism or fault, you hem and haw. TBH will help you to cut to the point. Sentence construct – TBH, I don’t know if I
am doing the right thing.
FOMO – Fear of Missing Out – This is peer pressure at
its worst, when we end up doing things despite our dislike for it, due to the
fear of being left out. This highlights
the reason why we do certain things – the fear of not being part of a social
circle.
NM- Nothing Much – When someone asks you what you are
doing, and you are not really doing anything in particular, you reply with a
NM.
SAVAGE – The word actually means wild and untamed but
when used by teens, it is a positive adjective. When someone is savage, it means he/she is
super cool.
CHILLING – When you are hanging out with friends,
enjoying their company, maybe having something to eat and drink – you are
basically relaxing and having a good time.
TMI – Too much Information -When you find that
there is an information overload and you want the talker to stop discussing a
topic. Sentence construct –“Whoa, Bro!
TMI – please stop.”
SMH – Shaking my Head -Used in messaging, when you
want to convey how dumb or annoying the other person’s idea is. It has the effect of rolling your eyes at the
other person’s suggestion.
WHATEVER – Most commonly used by youngsters, it
highlights their indifference and their view that they are not remotely
concerned by whatever you are doing or suggesting.
Now that you are armed with their lingo, I hope you will be
able to chill with Gen-next!
