S03E71 A Quick Primer on Gen Z Slang (No Cap!)

Ever wonder why the words 'radical', 'gnarly', and 'tubular' make you think of fluorescent leg warmers, while 'rizz', 'finna', 'bussin', and 'yeet' subtly conjure up images of TikTok dances? Hold on tight as we embark on a rollicking journey through the high-energy world of slang. We'll be navigating through its intriguing evolution from 80s jargon to Gen Z's cryptic vernacular. While we laugh over our attempts to fit in with the young'uns, we also appreciate how slang has consistently served as a potent social bonding tool, breaking down barriers and promoting authentic self-expression.

We'll be serving up delightful anecdotes and insightful linguistic analysis, as we wrestle with understanding the transformation of slang and its enduring societal impact. We reminisce about the heyday of 80s slang, before diving headfirst into the realm of today's teen lingo. From the once-popular 'choice', 'epic', and 'bazillionaire' to the current favorites like 'no cap', we examine how some of these seemingly ephemeral expressions have surprisingly become part of everyday American English. So join us in decrypting the secret code of Gen Z's language, and who knows, you might even pick up some fresh new words to impress (or confuse) your friends with!

#thoughtfulplasticsurgery #podcast #plasticsurgery #cosmeticsurgery #boardcertified #plasticsurgeon #beauty #aesthetic #botoxandburpeespodcast @crossfittraining @crossfit #crossfit #sports #exercise #health #movement #crossfitcoach #clean #fitness

Click on your podcast site to listen and subscribe!

S03E71 A Quick Primer on Gen Z Slang (No Cap!)

[00:00:04] Sam Rhee: Do you know what sus means? Okay, if you know that one, how about rizz, or finna, or fits? These are all current slang words my wonderful Gen Z kids use. Slang vocabulary has been present for a long time. When humans first developed language, I wouldn't be surprised if those primitives started messing around with words and creating slang right away.

Slang helps identify members of a group who use these special words and phrases together. It creates an informality and an intimacy between people, who know what these words mean.

I recently spent some time traveling with my two kids and I overheard them using many slang words when they were talking with their friends. And some of these words were cute and funny, but when I tried to use them in sentences, I got a lot of eye rolls and shaking of heads.

Clearly, my attempt to use their slang words was not appreciated at all. It was as if I had taken their clothes and tried to wear them. It was inappropriate and definitely extremely awkward. Well, it wasn't that long ago that I was in their shoes. Okay, maybe it was a long time ago, but yes, as a Gen X er, we also had our own special slang which did not sound right coming out of older mouths.

And not to brag, but a lot of our slang still exists today as part of everyday American English. And I still think it's a lot better than the older boomer slang that faded away, or at least should have, such as hip, groovy, far out, or can you dig it.

So let's go through some of the slang words from the 80s, and then run through some of the slang words today.

Who does it better? You decide.

For my fellow MTV compadres, radical, gnarly, tubular. These were all 80s terms derived from surf speak out of California. Gnarly waves were particularly difficult to surf, and if something was radical or tubular, it was amazing or awesome. Surf speak got mixed in with a lot of Valley Girl slang, which were words used by white upper middle class young women living in the San Fernando Valley near LA. So the classic phrases like grody to the max, totally, or gag me with a spoon, and the classic upspeak popularized by movies such as Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless, where people finish their sentences where it sounds like a question?

Choice, epic, bodacious, bitchin and fresh. These are all terms for good things. Choice is sort of like the recent slang term on fleek. Those leather boots are so choice. Same with epic, bodacious, bitchin and fresh. Anything fabulous, great, or awesome could be described with any of these words.

Or as they say in the movie Mean Girls, It's so fetch. Is it too late to try to make fetch a thing?

Let's finish off our quick review of 80s slang with a bunch of words that have made it into the normal, everyday American vocabulary. You may be surprised that Gen Xers started using these words, which then caught on in the mainstream. Everyone uses or at least recognizes these words today, including Bogus, Veg out, Buttload, Buff, Chillout, Bazillionaire, Wannabe, and Foodie.

Alright, on to today's freshest Gen Z slang. How many of these terms do you know?

Rizz. Rizz is short for charisma, as in, she's got serious rizz.

Rizz isn't being hot, although that can be part of it. And it isn't about being cool, although that can be a factor. Rizz is what we used to call game, as in, he's got game. It also can be used as a verb, as to rizz someone up, meaning to charm or flirt with them.

Fits, or fit. Clothes, or short for outfit. I need new fits. Or maybe I'll send you a picture of myself trying on some new clothes, and I'll ask for a fit check.

Vibe check. Usually a light hearted way of checking in on someone's emotional or energy state. As in, Hey, what was that text? Ah, it was just a vibe check from Marcus. Sometimes people will send pictures of places or things and ask for a vibe check, seeking your opinion if something's normal or if it's weird.

Bussin. Really delicious or tasty. Probably from the word bust as in, it is so good it will make you bust, or maybe bursting with flavor. People don't know for sure, but I do know when you say it, I've seen it said with a lot of passion. I got some Shake Shack yesterday and let me tell you, that avocado burger was bussin!!

Mid. Which is the opposite. Average or mediocre. Probably short for middle or middling. Make sure when you use this word you have a completely unenthusiastic tone of voice.

As in, did you watch last season's Dancing with the Stars with Paula Abdul? I did, but it was totally mid. Or just say. Mid.

Out of pocket. This one's a little tricky because you might already know one or two meanings for out of pocket. But there's a third meaning, which is Gen Z slang. The first conventional meaning is your own money or requiring cash. An example would be, your health insurance doesn't cover crutches. That expense would be out of pocket.

The second conventional meaning is used by business people and journalists, meaning unreachable or unavailable. So, for example, Jill is out of pocket today, meaning she is out of the office or you can't reach her. The current slang meaning of out of pocket is describing something that is completely out of character, inappropriate, crazy, rude, or wrong.

For example, Jerry had seven shots of Hennessy and then he jumped off the ledge trying to fly? He's way out of pocket. Alternatively, if someone says something disrespectful to you, such as, your dog is so ugly that it's face makes onions cry, you might reply, Man, that's out of pocket.

Yeet. So, yeet generally means to throw, but the word implies something that's thrown with a lot of force and without much care. So, for example, Dude, did you see Scott yeet his cup at Bill when he beat him at Mortal Kombat?

Sometimes yeet can also be used as a general exclamation, like yay or yippee as in, I can eat the cookies you baked before we eat dinner? Yeet!

Finna. Finna means going to do something like gunna. The origin of finna is probably a contraction of fixing to do something. Like, what you finna do? I finna get some Chick fil A, man.

Cap. Cap basically means a lie or a falsehood. The origin of cap possibly comes from the same meaning as to top someone. As in, to one up or to surpass someone. So to cap about something was similar to bragging or exaggerating about it. But now it basically means to call someone out who's lying.

For example, the Marvels is the best MCU movie ever. Cap man, it was mid.

Alternatively, if you want to say something is the truth, or you're being serious, you would use the phrase, no cap. As in, that avocado burger was bussin, no cap.

Finally, sus, salty, bougie, extra. Let's finish this slang talk off with four final words, which you probably know, as they've already entered mainstream use in a big way.

Sus. Sus means suspicious or suspect, originated from the multiplayer internet game Among Us where you have to guess who is the imposter in the group.

Example sentence would be, he called in sick on the day we all had to stay late for inventory, which was totally sus.

Salty, to be annoyed, angry or upset. She was salty because her parents wouldn't let her drive the BMW. People think it comes from the concept of someone crying salty tears.

And bougie. So the word bougie has actually changed somewhat over time.

In the past, bougie meant someone who was middle class, but was trying to appear wealthy. And this meaning was derived from the French word bourgeois or bourgeoisie, which meant middle to upper class materialism. And the origins of this meaning date back to Karl Marx, author of the Communist Manifesto, which include the bourgeoisie and then the proletariats.

Now, in today's slang, the meaning of bougie has changed, so it just simply means appearing fancy, high end, or upper crust, usually with a sarcastic connotation, like, look at you all bougie with that avocado burger.

And finally, extra, which means trying too hard, excessive, or overly dramatic. Basically it's not always nice to be called extra, it's somewhat pejorative. So, for example, every year for the Christmas party, Gillian always asks what everyone else is wearing, but then shows up in a tight dress and six inch heels. I mean, she is so extra.

All right, so there's your crash course in Gen Z slang.

I hope it was helpful. Use these terms at your own risk, no cap.

And just a final warning, just when you think you've mastered this Gen Z slang, there's a whole new crop of slang words being created by the next group, Gen Alpha, who are the children of millennials born from 2010 until now.

These 8 to 13 year old youngsters have already started to take over on the internet with slang terms such as Gyat, Skibidi, Sigma, and Fanum Tax. It never ends, does it?

My weekly thankful is the ability to give yourself grace. I've been pretty good about releasing this podcast every Wednesday morning for the past 39 consecutive weeks. But for the past few weeks, it was starting to slip, with the episode releases getting pushed into late Wednesday, then Thursday, and then finally the deadlines were starting to loom really large for me.

Finally, I did a self vibe check and I decided to give myself some grace and take a week break so I could catch up and give myself a cushion of recording a couple more episodes so I could get back to a steady schedule. I do this podcast for no other reason than I like to share my thoughts about topics that I find interesting and I hope others will find to be interesting as well.

I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to listen and even more, provide feedback and their own thoughts back to me. I finna keep going on this podcast until I can't do it anymore for whatever reason. And right now I can't think of any reasons not to do it. So let's keep going strong. Yeet!

Thanks again for listening. And as always DM me @Botoxandburpeespodcast on Instagram, or leave a comment at YouTube.com/@BotoxAndBurpees. Thank you.