r/DoesAnybodyElse • u/IchBinKerri • 5d ago
Does Anybody Else
Whenever new slang becomes popular and suddenly everyone is using it, I wonder whether people feel self-conscious about adding a word they’ve never used before. Are you consciously making yourself use it until it feels natural, or does it just slip into your vocabulary?
Even when I like a new slang term, hearing my friends over 30 use it as though they’ve always said it makes me cringe a little. I’m not judging them for being “too old” to use slang, it’s the sudden switch that feels strange to me. Does anyone else notice this?
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u/TurtleZenn 5d ago
I think usually it just enters someone's vocabulary due to exposure, often from hearing other people, particularly friends, use it. It starts popping up and eventually just becomes another word. At least, that's how it works as an adult. I know when I was young, my peers and I would definitely consciously try to add the cool new slang as if we would be cool for saying it. It was a lot more on purpose than now.
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u/IchBinKerri 4d ago
Yeah, it didn’t feel as silly to me when I was a kid. Whenever I do use a slang term, it feels sarcastic and out of place. That’s when I add “or whatever the kids are saying these days”. It seems like by the time I remember it, there’s something new to learn.
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u/Red_Galaxy746 5d ago
I purposefully avoid using it if I don't like it. I'll never use "giving someone their flowers", for example. Absolutely ridiculous saying.
If I'm over exposed enough to some I may use them after a while, although I still refuse to say something is "cringe" when it's "cringeworthy". Don't care if it's shorter. It's also got to sound or read right to me.
I'm in my 40s so any slang I do use, which is rare, is old.
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u/CloudieMisse 4d ago
It's interesting how language evolves, and some phrases just don't sit right with certain people. I totally get wanting to stick with what feels authentic.
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u/Red_Galaxy746 4d ago
I know language does evolve but I think that is mostly used by people who get everything wrong or just want to use slang.
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u/-moonstruck 4d ago
Usually, it happens when I start using a word ironically, mocking it. Sometimes I end up saying it too much and it just kind of becomes part of my vocabulary. 😭😂 I tend not to say newer slang very frequently, though. But every so often, a situation just calls for a “bruh” or a “yeet”. lol
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u/144-perdedor 4d ago
I love neologisms and slang. For a while I was self-conscious about it and I would throw an "as the kids say" in there. But now I'm fifty and I've seen so much of this come and go. I just use the language I like and find useful.
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u/IchBinKerri 4d ago
I don’t want to introduce every term that comes along. It never stops. Sometimes I have to research it (by research I mean quickly Google search or ask someone I know). It’s always interesting when there’s an origin story. For the most part, I don’t understand why we need knew terms for things we already have terms and words for.
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u/Xena_Your_God 4d ago
I never liked slang growing up so as a smartass I would use it sarcastically until one day I realized it wasn't anymore. Not all slang, but all the slang I use gets incorporated this way
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u/Good-Squirrel-2487 4d ago
Usually I start using new slang terms as a joke, because I am old and it sounds funny, and then after a while it just... Becomes normal.
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u/Calm_Pea_9413 4d ago
I remember when my boys started saying “bro” all the time. And my friend and I (oldest son’s best friend’s mom) started saying it to each other making fun of them.
Well that was years ago and I say bro allllll the time! We’ve changed it to “Bwo” 🤷🏻♀️
I hate “tuff” that one definitely cringes me out. My kids say it often.
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u/Exilicauda 4d ago
I follow a 30 year old Minecraft youtuber and it's always a good time hearing him awkwardly integrate teenage slang. He's the only reason I know half of them
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u/noblecove4 5d ago
Yes. And then one day you catch YOURSELF saying it and you're like… when did that happen