It is up to us as parents to be versed in what our kids are currently doing and saying. Even though we may still feel hip or cool, the slang of 2016 is a lot different than it was 10 or 20 years ago. For all the moms of teens, or moms of younger kids on the brink of tweenhood, this is a round up of a few trendy words and phrases—this is what the teens and young adults in our lives are saying—that are considered ‘cool’ by today’s teen standards.
BAE – Have you heard this one yet? It may be new to you, but by teen standards, it has been around for awhile. The word BAE is used as a short form of Baby. And it is an acronym too – Before Anyone Else.
In a sentence: She’s my bae. I don’t know what I would do without her.
ON FLEEK – It means fresh or when something is going well, or it looks perfect or on point.
In a sentence: Girl 1: Wow, I love her new shoes! Girl 2: Yea, they are really on fleek.
HYPE – Even cooler than saying something is on fleek, hype means something that is exciting or is going well.
In a sentence: I’m so hype for the party on Saturday.
GOALS – Something that you aspire to, you would refer to as goals. Or when something is going right or perfect, it’s on point.
In a sentence: Kylie Jenner and Tyga are so cute together. Relationship goals.
SQUAD – First made popular by hip hop lyrics, it referred to a group or crew of individuals with a common identity. More recently, it has been made more widespread in popularity by Taylor Swift and her posse of model and celebrity friends appearing together at events.
In a sentence: The squad and I went driving around all night.
SLAY – This one means you totally succeeded at something. Or you killed it – you slayed it. One of my daughter’s dance teachers said to me recently, ‘She totally slayed that routine!’ I had to go home and look it up. I wasn’t sure of it was a compliment or an insult.
In a sentence: Drake’s new album slayed.
THE STRUGGLE IS REAL – A more urban, but ironic way to describe trying times, or a situation that is hard to get through or unpleasant.
In a sentence: Girl 1: I had to walk to school today because my mom couldn’t drive me. Girl 2: The struggle is real.
LUH – A lazy phrase, as it is just a short form of the word Love. I luh you. Apparently it means more than like, but not as much as love.
In a sentence (or more likely, an Instagram comment): Gul (Girl), you know I luh ya!
SNAP – This is in reference to the App Snapchat, which is one of the most popular methods that teens communicate with each other. It is growing so much that companies are taking notice too – you can read top stories from CNN, Cosmopolitan, Buzzfeed, Mashable and more on Snapchat also.
Kids use the word snap like a verb.
In a sentence: ‘Last night, my friend and I were snapping all night.’
Teens in 2016 have more access to information, and are quicker to learn and absorb than we ever were. This generation grew up with computers and iPads and right behind them will be a group that was raised with mobile devices. But no matter what generation or what medium is being used to communicate, one thing hasn’t changed; teens universally still want to find ways to connect to one another and make memories with their peers.
#goals
This was helpful! I didn’t know what half of those words meant!