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Gen Xers share the nostalgic slang phrases from their youth that now get the Gen Z stare

"What’s your major malfunction???"

Images via Canva

Gen X shares nostalgic slang phrases that Gen Z doesn't understand.

Every generation has slang and phrases unique to them. From Millennial slang to Gen Alpha slang, it's always changing. And Gen Xers are noting that Gen X slang is often being met with the Gen Z stare.

In an online forum of Gen Xers, member Embarrassed_Flan_869 asked fellow Gen Xers: "Ok, so we all had phrases that we used to use, colloquialisms as it were, that no one remembers but us," they wrote. "Two that popped up recently for me. 'Scrolling through the mental rolodex' and when referring to regular vs decaf coffee, leaded vs unleaded."

They ended their post with a callout: "Which ones do you use/remember?"

And Gen Xers had tons of funny and nostalgic phrases to share, with some calling out how they've become lost in translation with the younger generation. These are 37 of the best Gen X slang phrases and colloquialisms to reminisce on.

taco bell, taco bell gif, taco bell commercial, nostalgic taco bell, 90s taco bell doughnuts GIF Giphy

"I said something about 'making a run for the border' referencing the old Taco Bell commercials to my 19 year olds and was given the Gen Z stare lol." - bibleeofile123

"I get that a lot with my 13 year. She’s my first kid to not even be interested in 'classic' pop culture (I can’t believe our stuff is the classic now 😭); my older two would generally ask or look up any reference they didn’t get, because they thought it was funny or cool. But this one just looks at me like I’m an uncool alien every time I say something like 'Homie don’t play that'." - dixiequick

"Strange things are afoot at the Circle K." - Maleficent-Aside-171

"Smooth move, Ex-Lax. I'm Audi 5000." - Warhammer517


captain obvious, captain obvious gif, slang, gen x slang, phrase captain obvious Sarcastic Common Sense GIF by VeeFriends Giphy

"Thank you Captain Obvious. Your perception of the obvious is only exceeded by your good looks." - nonesuchnotion

"What’s your major malfunction???" - snohflake5

"I still use 'What’s your damage?' ironically in a valley girl accent." - dlc741

"Bitchin. As in 'that's a bitchin Camaro'." - sugarbeet13

snaps, z formation, slang, nostalgia slang, snaps z formation Sassy Snap GIF Giphy

"Three snaps in Z formation lol." - Klutzy_Excitement_99

"'I think I need a bigger box!'" - snark_maiden

"'Time to make the donuts'." - Secret-Asian-Man-76

gnarly, gnarly gif, gnarly phrase, saying gnarly, gnarly thrownback Sean Penn Wow GIF Giphy

"I still regularly use both gnarly and grody." - duck_butter

"Using 'Not!' to sarcastically negate everything you just said." - FreshCords

"'Did you get home in time to catch the game?' 'No, but I TAPED it and I'll watch it later.'" - Bokononfoma

wheres the beef, beef gif, nostalgia, nostalgic beef gif, where is the beef beef GIF Giphy

"Saying 'I know nothing' in a German accent. I also edit a lot of reports, and when someone gives me a crappy report with no info, I always ask, 'where’s the beef?' I get a lot of blank stares." - hotlettucediahrrea

"Accusing someone of being a 'narc'." - Accio_Diet_Coke

"Cool beans!" - Wide_Neighborhood_49

"Peachy keen!" - Magerimoje

"Was paying a bill on the phone and told the person to hold while I go grab my billfold. The person had never heard of a billfold." - Disastrous-Duty-8020

cheers, cheers gif, cheers show, cheers sitcom, cheers tv american history drinking GIF Giphy

"I walked into the coffee shop I always go to and I was greeted by them in unison calling out my name. I was like, 'that’s was like Norm from Cheers.' They just gave me polite blank stares. RIP Normy." - Cleverironicusername

"Smoking or non?" - Formal-Working3189

"More and more, kids these days don't know where 'Nobody puts Baby in a corner' comes from." - HLOFRND

chicken butt, whats up, chicken butt gif, chicken butt phrase, chicken butt nostalgic Animated GIF Giphy

"Answering 'what's up?' with 'chicken butt'." - expespuella

"I was born a poor black child." - seigezunt

"At work, I used the phrase 'I'm gettin ' too old for this shit' and nobody got the reference. Bastards." - OriginalComputer5077

vanilla ice, word to your mother, vanilla ice gif, 90s gif vanilla ice death row chronicles GIF by BET Giphy

"Word to your mother." - silentAl1

"Know what I mean, Vern?" - ands_Of_Serenity78

"Bust a move." - Digitalispurpurea2

"It's 10 PM, do you know where your children are?" - La_Mano_Cornuta

patience grasshopper, patience gif, patience young grasshopper, kung fu, kung fu gif Patience Calm Down GIF by Brat TV Giphy

"Patience Grasshopper." - SDgoon

"Does any body still say someone's gonna sh*t a brick?" - iwonandimstillhere

"My kids still look at me strange when I say I am going to nuke something." - lazygerm

"My husband said 'let’s go veg out' to my teen kids yesterday and they looked at him like he was crazy. My son was like, 'what’s that mean?'" - CarisaDaGal

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Middle school teacher shares Gen Alpha slang parents should know as kids go back to school

"Skibidi" and "sigma" are alive and well, but what do they mean?

Philip Lindsay/Instagram

Mr. Lindsay translates Gen Alpha slang for the rest of us.

Every young generation invents its own slang, much to the befuddlement of older folks who quickly tire of trying to keep up with constantly changing terminology. Remember Gen X's "bogus" or "gnarly" or "grody to the max"? How about millennials with "basic" and "extra" and "clapback"? Gen Z is still going strong with "giving" and "eating" and "mid," but even the older teens and young adults of Gen Z are beginning to feel their cool factor waning as Gen Alpha steps up to the plate.

Gen Alpha, born between 2010 and 2024, has arrived with a whole new vocabulary that parents of school-aged kids are scrambling to adjust to. Does anyone beyond high school age know what "skibidi" means? How about "sigma" or "gyat" or "Ohio"?

One group of people who have their fingers on the pulse of young folks' language is teachers. When you're immersed in tween and teen culture all day, you pick up some things, which is why Mr. Lindsay, a middle school teacher, shared a little Gen Alpha slang primer for the beginning of the school year.

"Mr. Lindsay here to remind you of some of the words that are coming to a classroom near you this fall," he began. "Word number one—GYAT. Still going strong, okay? It does not mean, 'Go You Athletic Teens,' it does not mean 'Get Your Act Together,' it is a reference to a big butt, and when they say this they are referencing a big butt."

"Next we have 'skibidi,' it's alive and well," Lindsay continued. "Are we any closer to a consensus on the definition of this word? Absolutely not. Some say it means something good, some say it means something bad. Most of them just use it as a filler word whenever they have the impulse to say it. Skibidi."

How about "sigma"? Or "what the sigma"? Watch Mr. Lindsay explain:

The line between Gen Alpha and Gen Z can be blurry, and right now the cuspers between those two generations are in middle and high school—prime time for slang usage. Mr. Lindsay made another video demonstrating how a millennial teacher might try to relate to those students on the first day of school and it's a masterclass in cringe cross-generational slang usage that somehow manages to slay.

Watch:

Others who work with young people confirmed that these terms are, indeed, alive and well among the tween set.

"These are now sliding down to the elementary grades as well. Teaching 3rd-5th grade vacation bible school this week and I’ve heard multiple skibidi and what the sigma references."

"I took my soon to be first grader to a baseball camp this week. It was for 1st to 6th but it was mostly the younger kids. I laughed so hard when one of them yelled, “what the sigma?!”

"My 12 year old overheard me listening, ran in and said- you can’t listen to our stuff!!!! And tried to steal the phone. 🤣🤣🤣. I said what the sigma, Bro. He hates me."

Parents are deeply appreciative of both Lindsay's vocab lesson as well as demonstration of terminology they've heard from their kids and are reluctantly fluent in:

"This lowkey kinda ate and I hate that I understood it 😂😂😂"

"Saying using your phone in class is giving pick me is the MOST effective way to stop it. Lol"

"My Gen Alpha kid overheard this and was like 'BET.'"

"If everyone does this we can unalive this slang, no cap."

"Why do I understand all of this?! 😂🤣😭 Parent problems I guess."

Millennials using Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang is endlessly funny. Social media creator Elle Cordova wrote a "first gen alpha poet laureate" poem using Gen Alpha slang in a poem written in the year 2060, and it's perfection. ("Ohio" means weird/boring/bad, by the way.)

There ya go, parents. At least now you know what your kids are saying, sort of. And if you really want to impress and horrify your children, make these words a regular part of your own vocabulary and see how long they keep using them.

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Teacher bans 32 words from being used in their classroom, sparking heated debate

Should slang be banned?

via Kenny Eliason/Unsplash and Hearts4zaniyahh/X

A teacher banned 32 words form being said in their classroom.

A teacher has sparked a passionate debate on X after a letter they wrote banning 32 words from being spoken in the classroom was made public. The discussion is centered around whether a teacher has the right to control how their students talk in class.

The letter has been seen nearly 44 million times on X.

“The gibberish some of you choose to use is improper English,” the teacher declared. “There are many ways to articulate what you need to say without using slang. Please know that using slang in an academic setting can diminish your capability to become a successful writer. More often than not the way you speak is the way you will write.”

“This is an academic institution, and you will carry yourself as scholars in my classroom,” the teacher added.

According to the letter, if students are caught using any of the 32 banned words in their classroom, they will be assigned to write a short essay explaining why they chose “to use these words in an academic setting.”

Words on the list include bruh, standing on business, on my momma, big motion, gyat, gang gang, on hood and rizz (short for charisma). The teacher also banned the use of the n-word.

Given that much of the slang on the list derives from African American Vernacular English (AAVE), many believed that the word ban was racially motivated. However, the teacher's race has never been disclosed.

The list caused a lively debate on X, and many people joked in the comments that they didn’t think they would last a day in the teacher’s class.

Many people supported the teacher and believed slang is inappropriate in an academic setting, especially in an English class. They appreciated the teacher challenging them to change their word choice based on the setting.

The list also bothered many people who thought the teacher should be able to distinguish between the student’s speech and the work they do in class. For most people, there is a big difference between how they casually speak with peers and how they write in an academic or professional setting.

Many also thought the teacher was overstepping their bounds by trying to control how the students spoke.

One person had a practical solution the teacher could use instead of banning certain words. Instead, they could teach them to dig deeper into their meaning and find words and phrases that have a similar meaning.

Pritay Washington, an expert on childhood education at the Education Development Center, told Newsweek that she believes the students should be allowed to use slang in the classroom because it has an essential function: it helps them feel like they belong in school.

"So much happens in middle and high school beyond the learning of classroom content. Students are developing cognitively, mentally, socially, emotionally and physically," she told Newsweek. "They are honing their critical thinking skills and learning how to navigate the world around them. The importance of student engagement is critical, and this includes representation. Students' sense of belonging matters."

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'What on Earth is a GYAT?' Millennial feels ancient after learning the latest Gen Alpha slang

Now, we have Gen Alpha teenagers.

via NicolePellegrin0/TikTok

Nicole Pellegrino talks to ger Gen Alpha sister about slang.

Once you finally discover what Gen Zers mean when they exclaim “Slay!” every third sentence, Gen Alpha has arrived to make you feel even older. Gen Alpha is the official title for those born between 2010 and 2023, and the most senior have just become teenagers.

In a new TikTok video seen over 5.4 million times, Nicole Pellegrino, a Millennial-aged director of TikTok strategy for a media company, attempts to communicate with her Gen Alpha sister Simone, and bestie, using slang that she has no idea is “out.”

"I can't say, like, 'That's a slay'?" Pellegrino asks.

"It's not even funny how 'out' slay is," Simone replies.

WARNING: Video has adult language.

@nicolepellegrin0

Why did noone tell me slay is out #genalpha #genalphatok #genalphaslang

In the video, Pellegrino is most confused by the term GYAT (which not everyone agrees is an acronym). "What on Earth is a GYAT? A yacht?" Pellegrino asked. The Gen Alpha girls couldn’t believe that she had no idea what the acronym meant.

According to the girls, GYAT is a way to compliment someone who has a nice butt. It stands for Girl Your A** Is Thick. "If you have a BBL or if your butt shakes when you walk, that's when you would yell GYAT at somebody,” Simone clarified.

The language lesson caught many older people off guard who weren’t ready for another generation to crop up and confuse them. "I’m still trying to learn all the Gen Z slang and now there’s Gen Alpha slang too. Man, I am so old!" Jwoo991 wrote in the comments. "Why are Gen Alpha like fully formed beings? I thought they were still babies," India added.

@nicolepellegrin0

Replying to @hollymadison Gen Alpha’s out here using Siri to write essays 😹 #genalpha #genalphaslang

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