By: Claire Zhou

Although a lot of people say that this controversial language that teenagers have created is unnecessary, some have different thoughts on it.

Stephen Marche, a Canadian novelist, essayist, and cultural commentator, has a son who just graduated high school and is about to leave for college. And out of the many things he’ll miss about him, Marche will for sure miss the lessons his son gave him on teenage slang. These slang words have been helpful in some occasions and helped him understand how his son and his generation view the world.

The main focus of slang is to create a way of speaking that would differentiate yourself from others. New words were always created in each generation, but the meaning didn’t always change, rather was just replaced by a new phrase. For example, the term “cool” has been replaced with “dope” and “lies” became “cap.” However, some teenage slang has been shown to be useful and has slowly been applied into adult’s life.

An example is the term “mid,” which is used to describe something with low quality or below average, and has been adapted by adults, too. It’s a useful word to express mild disappointments, like airport food.

There are also terms that are shortened from the original wording, like “sus,” which is short for “suspicious” or “suspect.” Another good word that has been put to use easily is “cringe,” which means awkward, embarrassing, or uncool.

Teens are exploring the world and finding new ways to express themselves. Parents can try and understand their kid’s perspective of the world and they’ll see and learn the language of this generation, too.