In day-to-day life, teenagers use their own “lingo” or “slang” mostly to communicate with each other. Words from slay, be for real, bruh, girl boss and many more are used every day by teenagers. Some of these words are so common that the Oxford Dictionary has made them official words. At the rate that it is used now, it seems that the “trend” of teenage slang will never go away and only continue to grow in multiple ways. 

One of the biggest issues with teenage slang is teenagers do not know when there is an appropriate time for it to be used. Teachers are now seeing and hearing it on a daily basis. Even though part of their job is to be around teens, it is not just in normal conversation. Many students are adding it to their school assignments including essays, speeches, etc.. This affects the way teachers have to teach their students because many students believe that it is okay to use this kind of slang in school and in the work they produce. One teacher at Freedom Area High School that has tried to teach his students words that should not be used in school assignments is 11th grade English teacher Mr. Kenneth Dickey. Dickey has put up a “Wall of No” in his classroom to highlight the words that his students can not put into assignments in his classes. Having this up in his classroom at all times is always a good reminder to students when they may be working on assignments during the school day. 

“It helps us remember words like yinz, cuz, and Ima… things like ttyl, cya, k, or smh may mean one thing to you but something entirely different to someone else. The wall of no really has improved academic writing and encouraged the students to think about better ways to say what they mean,” Dickey said. 

Teenage slang has become a daily routine for most students. Whether talking or texting  others, almost every teenager uses it every day. Teenage slang started out as “text abbreviations” but are now just a daily occurrence. Students also use it as a way to express their emotions occasionally. If a teacher says that there will not be homework assigned that night, students may react by saying “slay”, but if a teacher would say the opposite and say that they would have to write an essay by next class they might give a reaction of “bruh are you being for real”. Even though that was never the intention, this slang has become a modern part of most teenagers lifes. 

“I feel like I use teenage slang pretty moderately. I don’t over-use it or say it in almost every sentence, I say it maybe once each day. It also depends on which friends I’m with. If I’m surrounded by more of my girl friends, I tend to use it more, but when I’m around my guy friends I almost never say it. It depends on the people I’m talking to,” junior Josie Brenkle said. 

Even though it was never supposed to turn into what it is now, teenage lingo is used on a day-to-day basis and is a normal occurrence. Teenagers use these words daily and the trend of teenage slang will continue to grow.