Excuse me?!?!? Being a middle school teacher, I am constantly hearing strange new words and phrases tossed about in my classroom.
In order to understand what the heck everyone’s talking about, I am frequently running for my favorite dictionary: The Urban Dictionary.
Below is a super-duper decoder guide which highlights all the newest middle school lingo. Read on to find out how to respond the next time a teen calls you a dingus.
Twitter Fight
Definition: A fight that takes place on Twitter. This is usually a girl thing from what I’ve heard. Attacks are very passive aggressive and names are not named but “subtweeted” (see below) and everyone seems to know who the aggressor is talking about. Fights are typically short-lived and can be entertaining or annoying for followers depending on their perspective. Once one Twitter fight ends, another usually begins in its place. #cyberbulllying
Sentence: Zayum! Did you see their twitter fight last night? Dramaaa!
Subtweet
Definition: Talking about someone behind their back on Twitter. This is a tactic used in Twitter fights. The person being subtweeted about is insulted, but not identified by name or tagged, so they don’t know they are being tweeted about. Of course, someone always tells them.
Example of a subtweet: There’s a girl in my 5th period who needs to get her ugly split ends trimmed off ASAP. Or, there is the more blatant approach which involves using the person’s twitter handle so everyone knows exactly who you are talking about, but leaving off the @ sign so they aren’t tagged in the tweet. cupcakegirl99 needs to get her ugly split ends trimmed off ASAP.
Other info: Subtweet is short for subliminal tweet.
Scene
Definition: A new-ish classification of teens who are typified by their love of alternative music, edgy hair styles, and unconventional fashion choices. The look for scene guys may include skinny jeans, tight t-shirts, and long bangs that hang into the face. Scene girls wear brightly colored make up to match their hair which usually is in a choppy style featuring at least two different vibrant colors.
Sentence: Cindy looks like so scene today. Did you know all the scene kids hang out on myspace?
Bae
Definition: Means my baby or sweetie or my boo.Shortening this term of endearment adds a bit of specialness and exclusivity to the word. Only used for you besties or boy/girlfriend.
Sentence: Tonight I’m going to the movies with my bae.
Other info: Bae is also an acronym meaning…Before Anyone Else.
Yeet
Definition: Term used to express excitement. I learned this one during Teacher Appreciation Week when I received a card that had “Yeet” written all over it.
Sentence: Guess who got an A- in history!Yeet! Yeet!
Fam
Definition: Family. Teens love to shorten words; it makes them cooler…unless an adult does it. Then it’s not cool at all.
Sentence: I can’t meet up today because I’m hangin’ out with the fam.
Wenis
Definition: Hee hee! This one makes me giggle just typing it. A wenis is the skin on your elbow. Teens like to use it because it sounds like, even rhymes with, another word…penis. Adults get freaked out when they hear kids use this word so that makes it extra fun for teens. The shock value is high and comes with no backlash since they didn’t say anything wrong.
Sentence: My wenis is really soft and wrinkly today. Do you want to see my wenis?
Dingus
Definition: A dingus is a person who is goofy and awkward. They make other people laugh because they do stupid things. Dingus vs. Idiot: No one likes an idiot; they’re annoying. The dingus is a very lovable, endearing creature! Warning: sometimes this word means penis.
Sentence: You are such a dingus!!
Basic
Definition: Typical. This is kind of a mean word and is used (in my school) to describe white girls who drink Starbucks, wear Uggs, and make duck faces into their phones.
Sentence: Look at what she’s wearing, North Face and Hollister again. She is so basic.
Hella
Definition: Very, a lot or really. Personally, I think this word is popular with middle schoolers because it has the word “hell” buried inside of it.
Sentence: It’s hella cold outside.
Other info: Hella originated in the San Francisco area and is a shortened form of “hell of”.
Salty
Definition: Angry, irritated, or upset.
Sentence: Girlaa do you need some pepper to go with that salt? Like calm down.
Sassy
Definition: Funny, spirited, bold. Can be sarcastic, but in a nice way that everyone adores.
Sentence: Tina is so sassy to the teacher, but she always gets away with it.
Saucy
Definition: This word’s meaning lies somewhere between salty and sassy. It is “sassy” with an edge or an attitude. Someone who is saucy often borders on being rude or insulting to others.
Sentence: Don’t take that saucy tone with me!
5ever
Definition: If 4ever means “forever,” than 5ever MUST be better and longer, right?? Used only in social media.
Instagram caption: Me and my bae, 5ever
Dat
Definition: Means “that”. Kids love trying to be ghetto which is something that I have tried hard to understand, but still don’t get. Dat is primarily used in social media, not spoken.
Sentence: Dat party was awesome
Related Words: dem and dis and da = them and this and the
Hashtag
Definition: When spoken it is generally used with sarcasm to emphasize a point.
Sentence: This class is ruining my life. Hashtag worst.teacher.ever.
G
Definition: Shortened term for “gangster”. Once again, suburban kids and their crazy obsession with life in the ghetto.
Sentence: Dude that guy’s a straight up G, like watch out yo.
Talking
Definition: This is when two people are in the pre-stage of dating. Generally this couple has gone on a few dates and text nonstop. They have not made it official, but likely will. This stage generally lasts one week to up to six months if one of them is holding off on commitment.
Sentence: Girlaaa, you two have been talking 5ever, is he ever gonna actually ask you out for real?
Zayum
Definition: Expression of excitement meaning perfect or amazing.
Sentence: Zayum! You gotta bae or nah?
Other info: Originated on vine and is generally spoken, not written.
Ratchet
Definition: Generally used to describe someone who looks trashy. It isn’t a very nice thing to call someone. Ratchet is sometimes abbreviated to ratch.
Sentence: Dangg that girl’s outfit is hella ratchet.
ILYSMBB
Definition: Super long acronym that stands for…I love you so much baby. Middle school girls love a lot of people so this is used frequently. Used primarily on instagram and Twitter.
Instagram Caption: Starbucks with my bestie, she’s so perf. ILYSMBB
Sneakerhead
Definition: A word used to describe people who collect and trade sneakers, primarily Nikes and Jordans. This is a major obsession for these teens and they can often be seen walking around the locker bay trying to hawk an old pair of shoes.
Sentence: Collin is a real sneakerhead.
Other info: There is even a convention called Sneakercon for sneaker collectors where they are able to buy, sell, trade, and admire the coolest shoes around. Many of my students attend this event when it comes to D.C.
Instagram Publishing Schedule
Sunday: #SelfieSunday
Monday: #ManCrushMonday
Tuesday: #TransformationTuesday
Wednesday: #WomanCrushWednesday
Thursday: #ThrowbackThursday
Friday: #FlashbackFriday
Saturday: Nothing! I guess the no one posts on Saturdays. Ha!
*These words are popular in my school which is in Virginia. Teen slang varies quite a bit depending on location, even from one school to another in the same county.
These words are OUT.
Only use words from this list if you are prepared to receive immediate looks of derision and exaggerated eye rolls. You will be openly mocked and snickered at by any teens in the vicinity. Sometimes I sprinkle these into my lessons to make sure that my students are listening. A reaction is 100% guaranteed.
- That’s so dope.
- Swag
- Chillax
- Cray-cray
- Oh snap!
- Yolo
- Beast
- Epic
- Twerk
- IDK
- LOL
- Totes
- Adorbs
- OMG
- That’s so ghetto
- Woot
So now you know how to sound hip and cool when conversing with the younger set or at least understand some of what they are saying. Please note: Much of this will probably be outdated by the time I hit “publish” so proceed with caution.
greatsnaps, goodtimes and me 
Fantastic. You could write a book or was that the dictionary already printed? Great read. I cant believe some of the new words! They are like from another world. Whatever happened to “cool” …..
Thanks!! I agree, some of these words are crazy. I had to have subtweet and twitter fight explained to me again and again before I understood exactly what they meant.
That is hysterical! I knew I was old when I had to start googling things people posted on Facebook. 🙂
I know!! And it all changes so fast… Thanks for reading! 🙂
Yeet is the newest woot???
^_^
Oh goodness! My students were obsessed with “thug life” two years ago. I still don’t understand.
I think it’s the new woot, however my kids disagree. They think I’m the only dork alive who EVER used the word woot. And I still proudly use it!!
Haha. You aren’t the only one. I still use it too. Solidarity! 🙂
Oh my gosh with two 15 year olds and an 11 year old, I hear so much of this so often. As well as “blessed, landin and bish”. I laughed out loud reading this.. GREAT POST and Congrats on making it through the Blogging U 101
Congrats to you too! It was so much fun and I’m sad that it is over. Thanks! 🙂
Thanks so much! I too, am sad as I have enjoyed the community so much! 🙂
This is so good. I am getting an education. My teen just does the eye roll thing and looks at me like I am an idiot if I try to ask her about any of this.
Yes, I am also very familiar with the eye roll. I try not to let it stop me, though. My curiosity always wins! Thanks for your comment. 🙂
Lots of hard work has gone behind this. Nice compilation of words. Language is something which is constantly involving 🙂 😀
Too funny! I realized my age when I had to ask my teenage step-daughter what Yolo meant a while back! #iusedtobecool
Ha ha! That’s my life, too. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t ever cool, but I’m really out of it now! 🙂
You covered it all!! This was too funny, sounds like your students don’t miss a beat when it comes to any of that stuff 😉
Congratulations on blogging 101 as well!
xo
Thanks! They certainly are on top of the latest and greatest. 🙂
Hahaha. What a great idea to use those words to get the children listening.. 🙂
Oh yeah. They think I’m the biggest dork around…or dingus! 🙂 Thanks for reading!
jajajajajaja… I bet they do. No worries..
Excellent explanations! Congrats on finishing 101!!!!! I am a h.s. teacher and was familiar with most, but not all. Now I know, at least till next week! Awesomeness abounds in your blog, btw. 🙂
Thank you! I’ll bet you could add to this list being a HS teacher. I think that’s where all of my kids get their words from! 🙂
I’m going to have to come back and read this one when I can spend more time enjoying it! Great post! And congrats for finishing Blogging 101 🙂
If you’d like to join a group blog send me an email:
coveyview@hotmail.com
What’s a group blog? Sounds interesting! 🙂
haha! most of these have already migrated across the pond – i hear them all the time! my friend who sits next to me in maths says the ‘you got a bae – or nah!?’ line so many times a day you would think it cures cancer or something ;3 most of these are from vine – the magcon boys are pretty popular now!
Ha ha…like it cures cancer!! What are some British words used in your school that aren’t on here? Thanks for reading! 🙂
Are scene kids a thing over there? Are you scene?
i can’t really think of many widely used slang words that people my age use – maybe ‘lush’, which basically means really good, or ‘chav’, a lower class street kid :S and while i do have a penchant for metal and rock music, and i will probably dye my hair bright blue at some point (although my parents would kill me), I wouldn’t consider myself scene ^^ there are scene kids over here though, just probably not as many as in the us!
I set up email for contact & more discussion &. Detail.
coveyview@ hotmail.com
Haha! I really enjoyed this post! Your example sentences are great! Another word that my friends use often is Passive. “I am going to blom passive this weekend.” I know that ‘blom’ means chill but I have no idea what being passive has to do with any of it.
Oh, and thanks for the heads up on what words not to say. If I were in your class, I would have received many dirty looks.
Thank you! And thanks for the new words. I haven’t heard these, but I’ll try them out tomorrow to show my kids how hip and amazing I am! 🙂
Thanks for this. Maybe now I’ll kinda understand my nephews and nieces. I had no idea twitter was big with the kids. Or that collecting sneakers was a thing.
Yes, twitter and instagram are huge. Facebook is for “old people” according to all the kids. Thanks for reading! 🙂
LOVE! So glad ‘ratchet’ is finally getting the respect it deserves.
Ha ha! Thanks for reading. 🙂
Wow, I must be really out of touch because I don’t know most of these words 🙂 Scene is the only one I’m familiar with, and it was being used when my older two were in high school. I think my oldest son was pretty “scene” although I think it was used as an insult more than a compliment.
I’ll bet this post makes you glad you homeschool! Scene is a compliment if you are scene. Kids who aren’t, and are threatened by it, use it as a slam. I love scene kids because they are unique, creative, and very sensitive. My students tell me it replaces ’emo’ or ‘goth’ but I don’t think it’s an exact fit. So much of the negative stuff on here is girl related so you are out of the woods!!
Holy buckets. You are one hip chick! Shazam!!
Ha ha…And you sound a Marvel superhero. 🙂
That was so much fun to read! 🙂 And congratulations on finishing Zero to Hero
What a great read, truly this is terrific! I am happy to hear that sassy and saucy are actually used almost correctly! Of course don’t tell them, they might be horrified. I had to have both my boys try to explain douche and douche bag to me. I still don’t get them. How is Zayam pronounced, first or second syllable accented? sorry, I’m not up on these things anymore, my 20 year old is out of school, busy with community theatre, and now uses terms from musicals and Shakespearean plays… 😉 .
First syllable…kind of like “damn” with an extreme Southern accent. I’m glad you enjoyed this post. It was fun to write and my students and daughters found it entertaining to answer my millions of questions so I could get everything just right!! 🙂
Research is important! 😉
Oh dear, this is hilarious! And so true! Also, I’m terribly out. Now will you please excuse me, I’m going to crawl back in my cave. LOL. (< see my ironic use of an obsolete abbreviation 🙂 )
Yes, you are showing your age. Acronyms must be hopelessly confusing so adults have no chance of ever figuring them out. My kids tell me that only “old people” text with “bingo letters.” Example C U later. Just a head’s up…FYI. 🙂
TY 🙂
OMG – I thought being saucy was so adorbs! LOL This was entertaining to say the least. I have officially received my education and am now up to date! 🙂 ~Karen~
Hahaha oh my gosh, these are hilarious!
Funny! My stepdaughter is 18, so I understand urban. There’s something she says all the time that drives me up a wall, but wasn’t on your list. Can’t think of it right now but as soon as she comes home she will say it and I will cringe.
Thanks for stopping by! Let me know when you remember so I can add it to my list!
Will do!
Sooo…my stepdaughter just got done going through her yearbook with us and must’ve said “thot” about a hundred times – the new word for “easy.” I think the term she uses that drives me crazy is “on the low” which she uses like “between you and me.”
Thank you for all this! I try and keep up but I think it’s hopeless! This will help keep me in the game a bit longer I think
You’re welcome! It was fun putting it all together. 🙂
OMG, This rocks my world. LOL. Oh, I’m out of date already. One of my students told me that a winky face is not an appropriate thing to send a student. Really? What did I miss? 😉
That’s hilarious!! I’ll have to ask my kids about that. Do you teach middle or high school? I just go with sounding out of date because it makes them laugh and staying up to date is impossible! 🙂
I was in middle school for 13 years, but now at high school. I would never go back middle school, you have to be a special kind of special for that group!
That’s funny! I’m terrified of HS kids!! 🙂