By: Felix Xie
Teenagers today have changed how we perceive language. Often living in a world full of disappointments, they have changed slang to not only a way to describe but also a way to express their disappointments and letdowns.
The real value of slang is to create differences in language as a way to differentiate yourself from others by using different words. The distinction might be generational, racial, or ideological, but in essence, slang itself is the ultimate form of social etiquette. In each generation, the words have changed, but the significations haven’t: “cool” evolved into “dope,” as an example.
However, the latest generation has a different approach to slang. Born into a world where trust is eroding, anarchy reigns supreme, and misinformation and disinformation have merged to create more ambiguity, they have created a system of language to face the new and distinct reality that adults have created.
The word “Mid” captures this unique style of language perfectly. The word means something that is average or slightly below average. Something that doesn’t bring joy but doesn’t allow people to complain about it. It’s a word that captures the events and moments in life that we experience on a daily basis in this world.
“Glazed” has a similarly impressive precision. It signifies not lying, exactly, or even exaggerating. “Glazed” indicates the gilding of information; sports commentary, for example, is 90 percent glaze. For example, when Stephen A. Smith, the quintessential glazer, likens Anthony Edwards to Michael Jordan, a proper response might be, “The Ant glazing is crazy.” However, “glazed” is also the perfect word to describe social media. Everything on social media is “glazed” because it represents an unreal world and is artificially positive.
Teenagers have, from the beginning of time, been figuring out exclusive terms to describe the world.
As always, it’s a world that the old cannot comprehend. Today’s world is bleak, with corporate power emerging and the common good defeated, as meaning systems break down and ambiguity grows.