Teenage Slang

Dr Andrew Copper, lecturer in English language at Salford University, warned older people against attempting to adopt the hip jargon in conversation with teenagers. He said: "Learning the words is not enough. For the unwary, speaking jive to be one of the posse may, before you know it, confirm that you are just pants."

- from London "Metro", 15th March 2000

Lectures to live by. Not. -- PhilipCraigPlumlee

My daughter is only eleven but tells me that "dark" now means "bad" which of course means "wicked" which means "good". Out of interest does this latest innovation come from the United States or is it a local variation? Does age affect such sub-dialects at all?

-- Highly confused of London

I first heard "dark" in the context of DrumAndBass, which is a UK thing. -- AndyMorris

... and a Vienna thing as well. -- NeKs

The phenomenon of BadMeaningGood, originating in TheEighties, deserves special attention.

BadMeaningGood certainly predates TheEighties. My first exposure to it was sometime in the mid-1960s.

?It [gold] serves what life requires,/But dreadful too, the dark Assassin hires? -- Alexander Pope

Seems some eleven-year-olds know the most traditional connotations of their words... -- PCP

I'm fairly sure "wicked" is a UK invention - to my knowledge it originated in the dance scene.

Wicked has been in use in New England for decades, and it's a staple of anyone doing a parody of people from Southie. (South Boston) It tends to mean "very" as opposed to just "good" however.

I can confirm this. Wicked is an extremely common phrase in Northern Vermont. As in "Jeezum Crow, that is wicked decent." It's not just teenage slang though- you're only marginally more likely to hear that sentence from a high school student than from someone in their forties. <I grew up there and kids joked about that stuff, but mostly because it was the old woodchucks who said "jeezum crow." However I will attest to being a child there a dozen years ago and 'wicked' was definitely a part of my vocabulary. -- TomPlunket>

Annabella Lwin can't help but say it at the end of a BowWowWow tune on their reunion-tour album. Does that answer your question?

Do you think it is true, as this discussion suggests, that the UK or London dance and/or rap scene is generating new TeenageSlang? Do some of the words in fact flow across the Atlantic in the opposite direction than I had assumed when I asked the question?

Well, I'm under the impression that the flow is much less one-sided than it used to be. A lot of the dance / experimental / trance / DrumAndBass things originated on the east side of the atlantic and have moved westwards - or at least been involved in bidirectional exchanges of ideas. Then again I'm only casually acquainted with the finer details of that domain :)

Aye, did we forget Jamaica, mon? -Dat's where -dis "wicked" meaning started. Reggae is -de influence behind BowWowWow, mon!

I'm not even sure where most of the most recent additions come from. "Pimp" I know came into use through Ice-T, but what about "Heinous"? Anyone?

My nine year old uses "pimps" to mean easy. Is that the same as "Pimp" above?

I hope your nine year old doesn't know what "pimp" actually means! Lately, "pimp" is associated with guys who have many female friends, guys who are doing well in life, or guys who seem to dominate in everything. Sometimes it's just an endearment between guys! But personally, I can't stand people around me using that word, since the negative connotations of its actual meaning are something I can never forget. -- JoscelynKleingeld

"Heinous" arrives via Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. In the affluent West Coast communities where it started its current usage, children are often victimized by rabid English teachers trying to extend their vocabulary. Words like "gonads" or "heinous" re-enter the language flat & without connotations, so the kids make up new ones for them.

"Heinous" was most recently adapted from the movie TenThingsIHateAboutYou, where one of the main characters is referred to as a "heinous bitch" in the guidance counsellor's summation of student belief. I know I heard that word used a lot more after that movie came out, including by myself. It essentially boils down to "very". A couple years ago, when I was still a "teenager" (i.e. in my "teens"), we also used terms like "crazy awesome"...any silly word to mean "very". "Very" just seemed so boring by contrast. Anyway, I believe we can blame pop culture, particularly movies, for a great deal of the slang teenagers pick up nowadays. -- JoscelynKleingeld

Also witness the unnecessary polysyllablics used by Wayne and Garth. CatchPhraseDuos? can make a word seem like a skateboard trick.

Sweet is such a boring and nondescriptive word.

"You know, cool is the rule but... sometimes, bad is bad." - Huey Lewis & The News Wicked Wiki!

well teenage slang (I think) is just another evolution of language... that teens made up to be able to express what they want to say better.

In the realm of slang: How can you describe the way a valley girl speaks to non-native English speakers?

Superfluous thought with superfluous and vague words. Es como, tu save, totamente facil, pero yo se que todo el mundo no save que yo save. O mira! Es una llama con pantalones rosa! Que bueno!

Given the stereotype, shouldn't that be lack of thought?

Problems with the slang? Whatever, Dude, you are so White.