slang

 It's weird; I mean, I'm not that old, I'm 23. (Though, today one of the seniors said that the only "old-school rock" he knew was stuff like Down with the Sickness by Disturbed, so maybe I am) And I know slang is different everywhere but it is just wild the amount of slang these high schoolers use. Some of it is internet stuff and that stuff I get, you know, when the kid I have sometimes three times a day says "this is so sad Alexa play despacito" I know what he's referencing because, again, 23. 

But there's new stuff. When I was in high school, if something was cool, it was "legit." Now it's "mint." "What do you rip" is "what do you drive, probably fast, because these are high schoolers we're talking about here." The tenth graders love talking about how they could kill babies.

Okay, that's not something that is new and surprising to me, actually. 

It's interesting. And, you know, I'm definitely using this to help with writing, because I write a lot of teenage characters, and so I don't want to get like, behind on how teenagers talk, right? Granted, most of my stuff takes place mid-2000s or earlier because of who I am as a person (though if there's anything to make me happier, today I showed the eighth graders the music video for Pink Floyd's "another brick in the wall" and they liked it so that's cool), but still! Nothing bad with remembering how teenagers interact. 

Even if they're mad that I'm expecting them to read this year, and then they do bad on their assignments because I'm not reading out loud to them and they will have to Suck It Up or maybe find an audiobook like I know one of my freshman did.