Heard some kids in the store the other day and “Snap” seemed pretty common.
Exact quote from one of the kids “Aaaaaaaahhhhh SNAP YO! Lemon Tea ! HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLL YEEEEEEEEEEEAH”
From that I take it that “Snap” must be some kind of adjective for excitement.
I live with a teenager, and although I am fairly certain her native language is English, I can’t understand a damn thing she says anymore. Everything seems to have the letter Z in it somewhere. As in “this is the shizzle” (which earned her a night off the computer, because I knew what she MEANT) and “that is a buzzummer” and “phazzzone’s ringing!”
“Snaps” and “props” are like verbal high-fives, far as I can tell. And yes, sometimes they are “snazzaps” and “prazzops.”
A bunch of them have started using internet shorthand in actual speech, which is weird. “Gee two gee” means “got to go” and “jay kay” is “just kidding.”
If you want to sound authentically teenagery, you have to randomly distribute the following words into your sentences: like, so I’m, ya know, all, whatever and yo (that last one is an interrogative.)
“So I’m, all like, you know, whatever, yo?” <–an actual sentence uttered by my 13-year old in response to the question, “What did you say to Sam on the phone?”
What a minute means can vary by region. In Chicago “for a minute” actually means a long time. ex. “Look at those dusty ass shoes, you musta had those for a minute!”
“hot” might be used to indicate the minute means a short time instead of a regular “minute” which can mean they want to see it for a long time (i.e., keep it).
That was meant for Lord Ashtar.
My favorite: “treated” in place of the old “dissed”. For instance, when one kid makes an insulting remark about another, a bystander would say, “Ooooh, he got treated!”
I’ve said J/K for years; I’m sure it predates if not the Internet itself, at least the current popular incarnation of the Internet.
So do the kids say “pants”? And what does it mean? Good or bad?
I’ve only ever heard/seen “pants” meaning anything but, well, pants, when written by a European. I think it’s bad… “this is pants” = “this is trash”.
“Props” is short for “proper respect.” But in its actual use, it means “kudos” or “hail to thee.” Snap.
And “yo” can just indicate the end of a sentence, like saying “roger” on walkie-talkies, yo.
Zark off, Live Better Electrically!, I’ve just got weird lingo.
And just to add my 2¢ to the “shite” conundrum (yet another term I use regularly. That and “quagmire”), I started using it after I saw Trainspotting, so at least in my case, I am just “speaking the accent” as someone put it.
Slizzed = drunk
A minute != 60 seconds. It’s a long time. As in “I ain’t seen you in a minute. What’s really good?” Which helps me segue to…
What’s really good? = What’s up?
19, Atlanta. Chillin in the Atlanta University Center. (For those who don’t know, it consists of Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and the besieged Morris Brown College.)
And I don’t know about this Shite business, but I’ve actually been saying Shiite for a little while now. Like the Muslims.
Seriously.
I’m 20, but since I tend to try to speak in a way that other people can actually understand me, I don’t know a lot of slang. Hell, some of it I wouldn’t say, even jokingly, and actually makes me cringe when I hear it (Like in one of the God-awful Old Navy commercials where Fran Dresher says “My shizzel’s gone fanizzel” or something). I hate the zz thing.
Anyway, I digress.
I’ve often heard “gay” to mean, er, “lame.” As in, “The book they want me to read for English is so gay.” I wonder if that sentence has ever even been uttered, hehe. I’m bad at coming up with real-life slang example sentences.
Tight=good. “Dude, that car is tight.”
Yo=greeting. “Yo, what up?”
Dawg= . . . Um. You? I don’t know, but I’ve heard it. “Yo, what up, Dawg?”
Then there’s my subculture (I guess you can call us Goths, if you want to, but not really . . . er.), which isn’t as popular as the Gangsta stuff. But probably easier to understand if you overheard it.
Ink=tattoo. “Let me see your new ink.” Sometimes people feel that one’s too . . . I dunno. So simply “tat” is used more.
stabbed=get pierced. “I’m going downtown to get stabbed.” Or “poked.”
virgin=not yet pierced or tattooed. “What, you’re still a virgin?”
Mod=piercing or tattoo. “I’m going to get a mod, but I can’t decide what I want yet.”
Pink lungs=non-smokers. Most often used as following, hehe: “Goddamn pink lungs” (after a city has gone non-smoking).
I don’t know how prevalent any of this is, since I think the deeper subcultures havr different slang in each major city, but that’s what I heard in Austin, TX.
To “tweak” is to trip on speed, but also used when someone’s acting crazy or irrational "you’re tweakin’ ". I hate the sound of this word.
Yep, “hot” is the new “cool.”
Something unsavory is “sketch” or “shady.” Possibly even “mad sketch.”