As the youngest of the Millennials are about to hit that ripe old age of 30, a milestone I myself have only just reached, it seems as though the generation after us is remaking language as they go.
A bunch of slang terms created by the objectively best generation of all time are being superseded by the words of those precocious children, I'd call it a travesty but nobody really uses that word much any more.
Besides, it's important to note that language is naturally going to morph and change over time - as has been the case throughout history.
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You don't see many people being called a 'jackanape' or 'ragamuffin' these days, as language has moved on as it must inevitably do and has been doing pretty much ever since people have been yapping on.
With that in mind, a TikToker has compiled a list of Millennial slang words that are being consigned to the dusty dictionary of lexical history.
YOLO is dead, long live 'f**k it we ball'
TikToker Allegra Miles declared that the phrase 'YOLO', which, of course, means 'you only live once' has been supplanted by the more profane 'f**k it we ball'.
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She explained that it meant 'here we are, why not, let's go, let's go' while waving her arms around in front of her face, and let's be honest, it is pretty difficult to describe the vibe behind such a phrase.
While that seems like a good way to double the number of syllables required to convey the same feeling, people have been saying this sort of thing for ages.
When the Roman poet Horace etched the phrase 'carpe diem', meaning 'seize the day', into his works, it spoke to a truth at the heart of many of us that we want to enjoy the live we're living now and make the most of it.
Carpe diem, YOLO, and f**k it we ball are all peas in the same linguistical pod that speak to that human desire to f**king go for it, because why wouldn't you?
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Also, when was the last time you actually heard anyone say YOLO?
Slay has been slain, now we eat
One day people stopped saying that someone was 'killing it' and everyone started uttering the word 'slay' with reckless abandon.
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Now slay has been supplanted by the word 'eat', though in actual usage, it far more often becomes 'ate'.
There are many variations upon this, as one might say someone 'ate and left no crumbs' or declare something akin to 'she ate with this outfit'.
On occasion, one might declare 'THEY ATE' and leave it at that, with the knowledge that they ate being enough to convey everything necessary.
Full disclosure, I know some individuals from Generation Z who use slay in virtually every sentence and they have been very upset to learn they're actually speaking like a Millennial.
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They have since informed me that the chance of changing their vocabulary in response to this information is 'none at all'.
You don't have game, you've got rizz
Finally a term I'm more familiar with, not because I possess either game or rizz in any quantity, but because I actually know the etymology of this one.
'Rizz' comes from 'charisma', and in this case denotes a talent for seduction.
If someone had game then they were charming, but rizz has become a slightly more useful word as it can be used in other contexts.
A person can have either game or rizz, but I am led to believe that one can also 'rizz up' another individual and the word also functions capably as a very.
Please don't ask me what 'skibidi rizz' is though, I have no idea and frankly I suspect I'm better off not knowing.
You're not on point, you're locked in
According to Allegra, these two slang phrases are 'not quite exactly the same' but they do have the 'same energy'.
She explained that these ones were about adopting a 'let's go, we're doing it' mentality that sounds similar to 'YOLO' and 'f**k it we ball', but somehow feel more focused and less carefree.
While the previous slang phrases might have conveyed a reckless abandon designed to seize the moment and live it, to be on point or locked in seems to evoke a far more solid commitment.
If you're locked in then people are relying on you to take responsibility and you've said you will, and cool people live up to the responsibilities they take on.
Vibe makes way for type beat
Honestly, when most of the Gen Z people I know talk about the vibe of a place, they will instead declare 'it's giving' followed by whatever it is giving the sense of.
The TikToker conceded that this one might be more to do with her own personal preference than anything else - so take this one with a pinch of salt.
Instead of saying a place had an 'ambient vibe', you'd say it has an 'ambient type beat', though as I said, the Gen Z-ers I know would probably stand in the middle of the place and declare 'it's giving ambience, it's giving cosy' or some similar utterance.
Now you know all of these terms and the way language is changing around your very ears you can be with it, at least until the next generation rolls around and changes what it is, then suddenly what you're with isn't it and what's it seems weird and scary.
Enjoy your youth while it lasts Generation Z, it'll happen to you.
Featured Image Credit: NBCTopics: Weird, TikTok, Community, History