You've probably heard a teenager say something is "bussin" or that someone has "rizz" and felt completely lost. Welcome to the club—every generation has felt this exact confusion about the words young people use. But slang isn't just about making adults feel old. It's a powerful force that shapes who we are and how we connect.

What Makes Slang Different From Regular Language?

Slang consists of informal words and phrases that belong to specific groups. Merriam-Webster defines it as "language peculiar to a particular group." Unlike standard vocabulary, slang lives primarily in speech rather than writing. It thrives in text messages, not term papers.

What makes slang special is its role as a social marker. When you use certain words, you're signaling membership in a community. That community might be defined by age, profession, geography, or culture. The words you choose tell others who you are—or who you want to be.

The Secret Languages of History

Slang isn't new. People have been creating coded language for centuries, often for practical reasons.

Take Cockney rhyming slang, which emerged in London's East End during the 1840s. Market traders and petty criminals developed this elaborate system after Sir Robert Peel established London's first professional police force in 1829. They needed a way to communicate without police understanding them.

The system worked through rhyming substitutions. "Apples and pears" meant stairs. "Dog and bone" meant phone. "Bread and honey" meant money. Sometimes speakers would drop the rhyming part entirely, making the code even harder to crack. "Use your loaf" (meaning "use your head") comes from "loaf of bread," rhyming with "head."

This wasn't just clever wordplay. It was survival language that also built tight community bonds among people who shared it.

Where Modern Slang Really Comes From

If you've noticed that much of Gen Z slang sounds familiar but you can't place it, there's a reason. Many popular terms originate from African American Vernacular English (AAVE), a dialect with deep historical and cultural roots.

Christopher Green, a linguist at Syracuse University, notes that linguistic innovation often begins within marginalized communities, then spreads outward. The 1980s LGBTQ ballroom culture gave us "work," "yes queen," "serve," and "slay"—terms that have since entered mainstream vocabulary.

This pattern repeats constantly. Communities experiencing marginalization create vibrant, expressive language. Then those outside the community adopt it, often without knowing where it came from. This raises important questions about cultural appreciation versus appropriation, but it also demonstrates how marginalized voices shape the language everyone uses.

How the Internet Changed Everything

Previous generations relied on music and television to spread new words. A phrase from a popular song might take months or years to travel across the country.

Social media obliterated those timelines. A term can now go from one person's TikTok to global usage in days. Jared George noted in August 2024 that 89% of Americans learn slang from the internet and social media.

"Yeet" exemplifies this speed. The word, meaning to throw something with force (or expressing excitement), emerged among young social media users and spread globally through platforms like Vine and TikTok. What once would have been hyperlocal slang became international almost overnight.

This acceleration affects how slang evolves. Words burn hot and fast, sometimes disappearing as quickly as they arrived. "Social distancing" dominated conversation during the 2020 pandemic, then largely vanished from everyday speech. The lifecycle of slang has compressed dramatically.

Every Generation Gets Its Turn

Generation Z uses slang more than any other generation. Their terms include "lit," "no cap," "sus," "bet," and "ate." Gen Alpha has already introduced their own vocabulary: "Skibidi Toilet," "gyatt," "Ohio," and "sigma."

But before judging these words as nonsense, remember that Millennials said "YOLO" and "bae." Gen X had "rad" and "fly." Baby Boomers used "groovy" and "far out." Every generation creates words to express the same basic concepts in fresh ways.

Christopher Green observes that we've always had different terms for liking something: "rad, cool, fly, hip, neato, fire, lit and savage." The sentiment doesn't change. Only the packaging does.

This cycle serves a purpose. Young people need language that distinguishes them from older generations. It's part of forming identity during adolescence and young adulthood. The confusion adults feel isn't a bug—it's a feature.

When Slang Becomes Official (Sort Of)

In 2023, Oxford University Press crowned "rizz" (short for charisma) as Word of the Year. For the first time, the general public voted on the winner. This marked a shift in how institutions acknowledge informal language.

The American Dialect Society holds yearly meetings where linguists vote on words and phrases of the year. These recognitions don't make terms "official"—English has no central authority like French or Spanish. But they signal that linguists consider certain words culturally significant.

Christopher Green points out that truly new terms are rare. Most neologisms repurpose existing language pieces. "Rizz" comes from "charisma." "Bussin" likely derives from "busting" or "bursting" with flavor. We build new words from old parts.

Whether a word survives depends entirely on community adoption. Dictionaries don't decide what's real—speakers do. If enough people use a term consistently over time, it becomes part of the language. If they don't, it fades away.

Slang as a Bridge, Not Just a Barrier

While slang can exclude outsiders, it also builds unexpected connections. When different communities share language, they share understanding.

Terms from AAVE and LGBTQ culture entering mainstream use means these communities' expressions reach wider audiences. This can increase visibility and normalize experiences that were previously marginalized. It can also lead to exploitation if dominant groups take language without respecting its origins.

The key lies in awareness. Learning where words come from helps us appreciate the communities that created them. When you know that "shade" (subtle insult) and "tea" (gossip) emerged from Black and LGBTQ communities, you can use them with respect rather than appropriation.

Slang also bridges generational divides when older people make genuine efforts to understand. Not to co-opt youth language—nothing kills slang faster than adults overusing it—but to appreciate why certain words matter to younger speakers.

The Living Language

Language isn't fixed. It's constantly shaped by the people who use it, the cultures they belong to, and the technologies they access.

Understanding how slang evolves helps us see language as a living system rather than a static rulebook. Every word we use today was once new. "Computer" meant a person who performed calculations. "Mouse" meant only a small rodent. Communities adopted these words because they filled needs.

The same process happens with slang, just faster and more visibly. Watching words emerge, spread, and sometimes vanish gives us a real-time view of linguistic evolution.

Each generation's slang reflects its unique experiences and values. Gen Z's emphasis on authenticity shows in phrases like "no cap" (no lie) and "keeping it 100" (being genuine). Their digital fluency appears in how quickly they create and discard terms.

Rather than dismissing slang as corrupted language, we might see it as linguistic creativity in action. Communities constantly experiment with words, testing what resonates and what falls flat. Most attempts fail. The ones that succeed tell us something about the people who use them.

What Your Words Say About You

The slang you use—or don't use—reveals your identity. Age, geography, interests, and cultural background all influence your vocabulary. When you adopt new terms, you're often signaling desired group membership.

This works both ways. Slang builds in-group cohesion while marking out-group boundaries. If you don't understand the words, you're not part of that community. This exclusion can feel frustrating, but it serves important social functions.

Young people need spaces that adults don't dominate. Marginalized communities need language that centers their experiences. Professionals need shorthand that makes specialized communication efficient. Slang creates these spaces through words.

The evolution of slang reminds us that language belongs to everyone who speaks it. No authority controls it. Communities shape it through daily use, creativity, and cultural exchange.

Next time you hear an unfamiliar term, consider it an invitation. Not necessarily to adopt the word yourself, but to understand the community that created it. Language shapes identity and bridges divides—but only when we listen to what people are really saying.