TBH your haircut is totes swag. If you have no idea what that sentence means, don’t beat yourself up — it is just everyday teenage lingo. Every generation has its own quirky language. Teens tend to latch on to these phrases, leaving us parents scratching our heads.
When I was a teenager in the 1980s, it was “like, totally,” “gag me with a spoon” and “bad” (which actually meant good).
The 1970s brought to life phrases like “far out” and “groovy.” (I know this because I have watched all 117 episodes of The Brady Bunch … at least 4 times. You too?)
Today’s teens not only have their own words, but they have created a growing plethora of acronyms for texting and social media. It can leave a parent’s head spinning trying to figure out what is actually being communicated in a conversation. Although I don’t recommend that parents actually try to use these words (unless you want to really embarrass your kids), I do think it is important to have an idea of what our kids are actually saying to each other – and to us!
To help you out, I have provided a brief dictionary of a bit of today’s teenage banter so you can translate your teen’s words into regular old fuddy-duddy language.
- Bae: “Before anyone else.” If you are someone’s bae then you are really special.
- Killin’ it: This means to be doing something really well.
- Epic fail: Ooops! Never mind … I was just told that, “No one says that anymore. It is soooo 2013.”
- Swag: The new word for “cool.” Fonzie would be considered very swag.
- Hipster: Hipsters are very hard to define because if they were then they would no longer be hipsters. They are independent thinkers — maybe a little trendy and fashionable — and don’t fit in a category.
You might also notice that teens tend to abbreviate words: Cray (crazy), totes (totally), whatev (whatever), fam (family).
And, of course, there is the growing list of acronyms used to avoid actually typing words:
- IKR: “I know, right?”
- GGB: “Gotta go, bye”
- TBH: “To be honest” – This is primarily used on social media sites. The idea is to allow someone to give their honest opinion about you, which usually turns out to be “OMG, U R soooo gorgeous!”
- TBT: “Throwback Thursday” – Because of the wonderful invention of cameras on phones, teens have a kagillion pictures. TBT allows them to post pictures from the past on Thursdays … or any other day (the rules are broken quite frequently).
- YOLO: You only live once
- GGINTSFAT – “Gotta go, I need to study for a test.” (Actually, I just made this one up, but I am hopeful it will catch on in my household.)
Most of these words and phrases are harmless, but there are others floating around out there that you may not be comfortable with your teen or tween using. In fact, your child might not even know what the word means. If the cool older kids are saying it, why not do the same? Or, it could be part of the lyrics in a popular pop song blaring on the radio. (Don’t even get me started on the inappropriate lyrics of popular music these days.)
I have also noticed that teens have started morphing a few not-so-nice words into similar sounding versions of them. Not a good trend.
What is a parent to do? Use the Internet. Google anything your child says and you will get an instant definition. Urbandictionary.com is also a good resource. Then, you can talk with your child about whether or not it is a word or phrase that you want coming out of his or her mouth.
Good luck, parents! I hope this helps you have a, like, totally rad time with your groovy kids!
Anne Blankenbiller
K-12 & Teens
Most of my mornings, afternoons, and evenings are spent driving the kids here and there—and then back to here again. Every child is a gift on loan from God. As parents, our job is to raise that child to be an independent adult who can contribute to the world using the gifts and talents he or she was given. It is hands-down the most important job on earth!
