“Like, using slang is def a good idea.”

Teen Slang has long been apparent throughout the world. Every generation has always had its own slang and every teen comes up with his or her own way to communicate.

Many believe that modern teen slang originated in the time of the Valley Girls and their Valleyspeak. Originating in the 1970’s in South California, this stereotype was driven by surfer and skateboarding slang of the time period. Slang today is still related to stereotypes.  Like for example, girls are like stereotyped to, like, say ‘like’ a lot.

Many people believe that the use of ‘like’ in conversation is characteristic of teenage girls but research has shown that more boys use the word ‘like’ in conversation than girls. This particular use of slang has become a commonly criticized characteristic of how teens communicate with one another. Most people think the use of ‘like’ makes teens sound uneducated and reveals the gaps in their vocabularies. But researchers have shown that many teens just say ‘like’ to fill in the gaps just as many people use the word ‘um’ as a filler for their sentences.

“It is not a lazy use of language, that is a common fallacy among non-linguists,” says John Ayto, editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang in a BBC article on Teen Slang. “We all use fillers because we can’t keep up highly-monitored, highly-grammatical language all the time. We all have to pause and think. We have always used words to plug gaps or make sentences run smoothly. They probably did in Anglo Saxon times, it’s nothing new.” But slang is seen in more than the use of one word.

Texting has also been very influential in adding new slang words to everyday conversation. Expressions like “TTYL” or “BRB” are used often when texting or chatting online. This slang is commonly used when kids text, but texting is not the only time teens abbreviate words.

Even when talking many people use abbreviated words. As if people don’t already talk fast enough, teens now use words like “def” for definitely or “obvi” for obviously. Some people may even use “LOL,” which is abbreviated for laugh out loud, and pronounce it as word. But are parents catching on to teen slang?

Parents who try to learn the slang used by their teenage children are often unsuccessful. It’s hard for parents to master this particular generation’s slang and decipher its language. Sometimes parents can’t even use texting language the right way. An example is how often they misuse the abbreviation LOL. The slang of this generation is just too distinct and different from the slang from their time. They may fail at getting “hip” and they won’t hear any kid saying “that’s hip” either because that’s from “back in the day.”

Not only does every generation have its own slang but so do cliques within a generation. Skateboarders and surfers are known for their “gnarly slang dude.” Even differences in slang between teens of different countries can be seen, like American slang and British slang. You don’t hear many Americans calling that new band “ace” but they might say “awesome”. If they are from Boston they might say wicked, not a word many people use in Jersey. Verona High School even has its own original expressions and students are constantly creating more.

Slang will always be prevalent and evolving as long as teenagers exist because they will never want to sound like their parents’ generation.