How many times a day do you say ‘Yas Queen’, ‘Nah King’, ‘Bruh’ or ‘Guuuuurl’? If you’re a Gen Z or a millennial, probably a lot. I know that I, personally, throw these terms around very often. When I use these nouns, they’re not absolute, meaning that I do not necessarily believe that the person I’m speaking to is an actual queen in the royal sense of the word. Nor do I necessarily say ‘Bruh’ exclusively for males and ‘Gurl’ exclusively for females. Each of these strange new ways of addressing each other in the 21st century indicates a certain level of flexibility in our language use – that is, they can be used interchangeably regardless of the person you’re addressing. Man or woman, royal or pleb, you can use whatever term you like so long as it conveys your meaning. A simple change to the emphasis, an added intonation, or even a new context can massively alter the meaning of a word. 

One of the incredible abilities of Gen Zs is their capacity to adapt to new forms of language and expression. Having grown up on the internet, we are very familiar with language’s fast and dynamic pace. We watch carefully and absorb easily. We listen to the influencers and YouTubers telling us what’s politically correct, unacceptable, hot right now and what’s up for debate. As a generation, we are incredibly emotionally and politically literate. Teenagers understand the concept of intergenerational trauma, and kids know what it means to be androgynous or non-binary.

 The same simply cannot be said for people in our parents’ generation. They grew up in a time when it was extremely uncommon to discuss issues like gender dysphoria or the experience of being transgender. Their vocabulary and semantic experience were far more limited by the constraints of gender and conservative lifestyle standards. Back in the day, people would even take etiquette lessons to learn how to speak in a ‘dignified manner’. Today, we’re more accepting of jargon, slang and indiscriminate language. 

Language is an immensely powerful tool. It represents culture, background, political leaning and so much more. When you use language effectively, you can communicate your feelings and connect with others more easily.

 In the 21st century, some people believe language has taken a turn for the worse. In 2022, Oxford Dictionary labelled ‘Goblin Mode’ as the word of the year, and many traditionalists broke out a sweat. Sure, it was revolutionary for a prestigious institution to acknowledge the wildest of internet trends, but is that a bad thing? For me, it was an indication that there has been a massive shift in how we speak to each other, how we connect not only verbally but digitally too, and how this has affected our speech. As opposed to using the purest English language in the most eloquent, grammatically correct form, we opt instead to use slang, figurative expressions, trending phrases and informal colloquialisms. And while I do believe that it’s important to learn and make use of language carefully, I also believe that there is some value in learning how to adapt our tongues to suit the zeitgeist of the time (that is, the cultural and political climate). The more open we are to understanding new dialects and to shifting our ears to new manners of speaking, the more colourful our lives can become. 

For example, just think of how immensely important it is to the LGBTQ+ community that we learn to tolerate and explore new ways of using pronouns. We always used to take for granted that certain words fit neatly with certain objects or people. ‘He’ refers to a boy and ‘she’ refers to a girl. But today, more people have come forward to discuss how limiting these narrow definitions can be, and how being called the wrong pronoun can truly hurt somebody’s self-image. Language has been left in its traditional form for too long, and it’s about time we reassess its application and value in today’s society. So we adapt. We ask what peoples’ pronouns are instead of just assuming. We leave room for discussion, and most of all, we leave room for tolerance.

In a different time, in a different world where the culture has changed and the people are different, it seems only fitting that we get used to new means of communicating with each other. And really, It’s only natural. I mean, imagine if we still spoke as they did in Shakespeare’s time. ‘Wouldst thou like dearly to twerk with me for the good of the TikTok?’ Nope. It doesn’t make sense. Sometimes you just have to say ‘Buss down’, and accept that language changes. And isn’t that kind of the beauty of language? Being able to explore new hidden meanings and nuances shouldn’t be a chore or an affront to the English language, it should be an endeavour to understand more about the time we’re living and connect with each other in new ways. So the next time you sense judgement from somebody when you use some silly internet language, or someone gives you trouble about your changing pronouns, just tell them that it’s about time they adapt. Otherwise, they might just get left behind.  And that’s all that I have to say about that, Queen. Mic drop. 

What are your favourite slang words?