Teen Text Slang Got You Shook? Here's Your Guide To Have Drip And Not Be Cheugy
Listen up parents, if your kid tells you they want to show you their drip, they're not talking about a leaky faucet or perspiring toilet. Instead, they finna vibe check their attire, possibly before recording a video for TikTok or heading out on a date, and they made the questionable decision of running it by someone who is cheugy (you). What should you do in this precarious situation that can leave you shook? You're just gonna have to learn the slang of today's text messaging youth.
These are dangerous waters you're treading into. The fact that I'm the one writing this article is sus to the say the least—I'm more qualified to be hit with an 'Okay boomer' bomb than to explain today's slang. I'm in my 40s and far more equipped to talk about things that are crackalackin' and get jiggy with other retro vernacular, than to chaperone you through your crash course in modern slang. But here we are—oof, amirite?
What brought this on is an interesting survey of 682 parents to learn what slang teens are using these days, and how much of it is understood by their elders. According to the survey, half of all parents pinged said they try to keep up with modern slang to keep their teen safe. And 3 in 5 parents said they do it to have a better connection with their teens.
Source: Preply
The survey, conducted by Preply, offers up some interesting stats, not the least which is a ranking of the most and least understood slang terms. A majority of those who participated knew the meaning of "salty" (70 percent), "bougie" (67 percent), and "sus" (62 percent), while "cheugy" (9 percent), "pushin' P" (8 percent), and "DTB" (4 percent) ranked as the least understood slang terms.
"Nearly 3 in 5 parents say they have Googled a slang term after seeing or hearing their teen use it. After all, with social media these days, new slang terms are always being created and it can be hard for anyone to keep up," Preply notes.
Source: Preply
Equally interesting are some of the examples of parents trying to define certain slang, such as "rizz," which most definitely does not mean "fancy" or "dazzling." It has more to do with someone's ability to flirt or otherwise charm a romantic interest. Or to put it in slightly older terms, if someone is good at spittin' game, they have rizz. I think, anyway (refer back to my disclaimer above).
Based on the survey results, Preply put together a guide of the most popular slang terms for 2023. The presumably vetted definitions come Urban Dictionary.
"Our research found only 2% of parents knew the meaning of all the slang terms on our list. Our hope is that this study can help parents not only keep up with the terms their kids are using but to also help the 3 in 5 parents who say they try to keep up with slang to better connect with their teen.
Using language to understand and connect with another person is a part of life that we continue to experience in different ways from one person to another," Preply explains.
Yeet.
