‘Words, phrases and slang teenagers use that I do not understand’: A mum translates

I am repeatedly bemused by my teenage children. They are like a different species to me.

I gave up long ago trying to be a cool mum – my continued use of the word “cool” making it clear I will never be one of their kind.

It’s their language that is the most perplexing to me. They say things I just don’t understand, and I have to ask what they mean constantly.

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Where have they picked up on this stuff?

And because I am a modern mum who parents via text message several times a day, I have a record of some of these new words they are using, which I will attempt to explain to you now.

“Skibidi” didn’t make the list because according to my son, it doesn’t really have any meaning. It’s just a gaming reference that means nothing.

They just say it randomly, sometimes just to be annoying.

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Maybe that’s what it is meant to convey – an obtuseness to information I have shared or a request I have made. It doesn’t quite mean “whatever”… it’s more emotionless than that.

Huh. I suppose it did make the list after all!

Skibidi

Meant to convey an emotionless sense of nonchalance the way my teenagers use it, but apparently it can also be used to communicate confusion.

This word came from a cool YouTuber called Alexey Gerasimov who created a series called Skibidi Toilet.

Unc

“Unc” is short for “uncle” and means an old person, or is used as a verb to communicate an activity an old person does.

Oh, and apparently I’m old, or “unc”, to them too, and so are many of the things I do and say.

Fire

This mean’s “cool good”, according to my son, so it seems to have replaced “hot”.

I asked him to review the new McDonald’s drinks lid and he said they were “fire”. I asked, “Is that good or bad?” and he said “cool good”. I like that one.

Delulu

I haven’t heard my kids use this one, but so many TikTokers I follow do, especially reality stars, and it’s pretty simple. It means delusional. Which is self-explanatory.

No cap

This was another one I needed my kids to translate. It is meant to convey truth and can be used instead of “no lie” or “for real”. Apparently has its origins in modern hip-hop culture, which explains why I had no idea what they were talking about when they said it.

To be honest, I don’t want to go into the origins of this one. I prefer not to know.

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Gucci

I actually really love this one. “Gucci” means good. And Gucci is a revered Italian fashion brand, so yes, I approve.

I can’t imagine myself ever using it in conversation, though, unless I was deliberately trying to annoy my children, which is a fun pastime for me.

Rizz

“Rizz” is short for “charisma”. I suppose it comes up when they are admiring others. So they’ve never said I’m “riz”, which is fair, I suppose.

Fair

The kids say “fair” a lot, instead of using words like “agree” and “right” and “correct” from what I can gather.

Brah

Well, isn’t this one just so annoying?

My kids call me “brah”, but the way my daughter uses it is more like “listen”. So it’s at the start of a lot of sentences and after she says “brah” I know she is going to tell me something she finds super interesting.

Apparently “brah” is short for “brother” and is meant to mean “male friend”, so if my kids could stop calling me that I’d appreciate it.

Bussin’

“Bussin'” means something is “amazing” or “delicious”. My kids are at a stage where they take most of my cooking for granted, like I did with my mum. But in 10 years time they’ll be begging me to make it for them. I live in hope.

Apparently “bussin'” morphed from “busting”, which originates from African-American culture.

Dank

“Dank” means “excellent” or “high quality”, which they have never used in reference to my cooking.

Oh, and I really wish I hadn’t looked up the origins of this one because apparently it was first used to describe good marijuana.

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Savage

“Savage” is used by them to convey when something is full-on. It can be used for positive and negative things.

Trust

My daughter uses this a lot, and it is seemingly used instead of words like “damn”.

Yeet

“Yeet” is throwing something with a lot of force, and I assume it has come from gaming.

And I am not very good at “yeeting”, clearly, because when my son said it I didn’t know I was meant to throw it with “a lot of force”, so lightly tossed it and he laughed at me.

Lit

This is when something is “exciting” or “impressive” and they don’t use it very much because teenagers are pretty stingy when it comes to expressing positive emotion, from my observations at least.

It is a derivative of the word “intoxicated”, apparently, which I don’t think is impressive at all.

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