Opinion: Stay gucci, avoid shade: Getting lit with woke slang (yeet)

Day by day we see the English language evolve, and with it the phrases and terms we use.
Gone are the days of radical, gnarly terms and groovy language. Away with the classic “talk to the hand,” “eat my shorts,” and like totally righteous words. Like, why can’t slang just take a chill pill? When did these tubular phrases disappear from existence? It’s time to squad up and get a little extra.
Now I’m not “Hundo P” on these new savage terms, but I do know how the evolution of slang is dependent on the current culture. With today’s culture being highly dependent on the information provided by the internet, acronyms and short phrases are used consistently as time savers and general expressions.
Don’t worry, I’m not saying that’s not gucci. When new slang is developed and spread by the media, music being the prime example, it is common for the term to be used as a way to communicate with others who prescribe to your particular interests. This creates a community, and results in a potential new group of friends or followers.
These hella fire terms may not last long, however. For example, when was the last time you heard swag? How about grody? After slang is deemed hip, it has only years before it is never spoken again. The clock starts ticking as soon as the word hits mainstream media.
We’ve all seen the cringey compilations of adults or advertisements trying to be dank and appeal to our demographic as young adults. These large corporations just end up embarrassing themselves by using dead memes and bogus, outdated jargon.
Why has it become so difficult for us to hear our modern slang in third person? This opinion piece, for example, low-key makes others skurt away after the bombardment of “current teen slang.”
This may be simply a byproduct of the community formed around current media. The combination of these slang terms and phrases is used mainly by those who have the ability to — teenagers. Once we bypass the days or years of our youth, we carry on and replace it with something else, something fresh. Progression of and additions to languages is ever fluctuating, and it is this that makes YOLO seem like it was ages ago. One day we are sticking it to the man with our far-out words then next thing you know we have left them on read.
The older we get, the more accustomed we must become to generic business language and proper sentence structure.
We lose the ability to speak straight fire and have to sip tea. We ghost many friends along the way. Don’t spend your time throwing shade at those who aren’t feeling your vibe, enjoy your youth and your fab community while you can.

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