How to speak millennial!
The generation who can’t remember life before mobiles are not just social media obsessed, they speak their own language. From ‘kitten-fishing’ to ‘adulting’, here’s . . .
THEY’VE been accused of being entitled, lazy and so right-on it’s painful. Then there’s the matter of their own mysterious language. Born between 1982 and 2000, most millennials can’t remember a time before mobile phones. With texting and social media being their main means of communication, they’ve created an entirely new way of speaking that involves acronyms, abbreviations and a new type of shorthand lexicon that can leave the rest of us, well, a bit flummoxed tbh (to be honest).
Here INDIA STURGIS brings you the ultimate A to Z that, with study, will help you speak fluent Generation Snowflake. A is for…
ADULTING – Behaving like an adult, specifically if the task is boring or mundane. You ironed a pillowcase? You actually paid rent when you got paid rather than splurging it on nights out? You’ve been adulting. B is for…
BENCHING – A millennial dating term meaning a suitor is being sidelined, as in stuck on the substitute’s bench. But thrown occasional texts so they think they might still be in with a chance. Similar to . . . BREAD CRUMBING – When someone is led on a trail with flirtatious messages which are never followed through. C is for…
CAN’T EVEN – Too busy being speechless to finish your sentence. As in: ‘My cinnamon latte was €8.20, I can’t even . . .’ CHECK YOUR PRIVILEGE – A useful way to point out an ignorant remark made by someone, usually a pale, stale male – who has lived a privileged life and therefore can’t possibly have a valid opinion on anything. Now more of a catch-all put-down. D is for…
DEAD – A one-word response to something so funny, ridiculous or utterly adorable that you ‘die’ of laughter. Friend: ‘My parents think Professor Green [the rapper] is my PhD lecturer.’ You: ‘Dead.’ E is for…
EMOJI – What do a robot, an aubergine, a smiley face and three-candled cake have in common? They are all emojis and replace real language. Someone: ‘I’ve just booked us dinner at your favourite restaurant.’ You: ‘Thumbs up, lipstick kiss, two pink hearts.’ F is for…
FEELS – Like feelings but with so much more, erm, feeling. Feels are how your favourite film make you all warm and gooey inside. ‘That film gives me all the feels.’ FOMO – Too much social media can breed anxiety. This is ‘fear of missing out’ and the result of hours spent looking at people showing off in holiday bikinis and enjoying smashed avocado brunches. FAM – A term of endearment for your closest BBF (bestest best friend). As in: ‘What’s up, fam?’ Short for ‘family’ but rarely used for blood relatives. G is for…
GHOSTING – According to one dating website 78% of millennials have been ghosted – when a love interest simply disappears. GUCCI – Nothing to do with the fashion brand. To use when something is brilliantly good. ‘Whoa, this artisan pizza with Peruvian cherry tomatoes is gucci.’ GOAT – An acronym for ‘Greatest of All Time’. i.e. ‘Madonna is good, but Beyoncé is the GOAT.’ H is for…
HIGHKEY – The opposite of lowkey. When something is highkey it’s worthy of shouting from the rooftops about. I is for…
IRL – Short for ‘in real life’. Used to denote something actually happening in the real world rather than just online. Bit of a rarity for some snowflakes. J is for…
JOMO – The latest incarnation of FOMO (see above) and its exact opposite. It stands for the ‘joy of missing out’ and describes the pleasure of sitting at home doing nothing while your friends are out doing a joint Bikram yoga session/poetry reading/beach clean. K is for…
KITTENFISHING – A lighter version of ‘catfishing’, which is when you pretend to be someone you are not on online dating sites by using a fake profile or picture. Kittenfishing is when the shot is actually you but you might boost your chances by using flattering filters or lying about being a size 10 when, really, you’re a size 14. L is for…
LOLZ – Originally stood for ‘laughing out loud’ but has become a word in its own right and gained a rebellious ‘z’. A signifier of good times. LIT – Used to describe anything that was amazing/extraordinary/ cool or beyond exciting. ‘Have you seen the new Stella McCartney trainers? They’re lit.’ M is for…
MICROCHEATING – When you’re in a relationship and you commit small, semi-inconsequential acts of flirtation. It sort-of doesn’t matter and your partner should sort-of just get over it. MANSPLAIN – A term that was added to the Oxford English Dictionary this year, it’s when a man explains something to a woman, which she already knows, in a patronising way. MANSPREADING – When a man sits on public transport with his legs wide apart encroaching on your personal space. N is for…
NETFLIX AND CHILL – Not to be confused with putting on Netflix, your best slippers and watching five episodes of The Crown. This is millennial code for ‘let’s put on something we have no intention of watching and fool around on the sofa’. O is for…
ON FLEEK – Just means it’s great. On fleek used to just apply to flawless style but now extends beyond make-up and looks. OWNED – When you are roundly beaten, defeated or your argument has been destroyed. ‘James, you just got owned.’ P is for…
PHUBBING – Do you frequently ignore others or your surroundings by staring into your phone? You are guilty of phubbing (pronounced f-ubbing). A hybrid of the words ‘phone’ and ‘snubbing’. Or: ‘Hey, stop being such a phubb.’ Q is for… QUICHE – When something or someone is hotter than hot, they are ‘quiche’. First coined by satirist Chris Lilley on his 2013 series Ja’mie: Private School Girl to lampoon young people’s vocabulary it has since, ironically, been adopted by millennials. ‘Jamie Dornan is just so quiche.’ R is for…
RECEIPTS – Not the kind you get from the checkout at Tesco, these are digital receipts. The online world is full of deception, so it’s best to keep evidence known as receipts. Use saved screengrabs to demonstrate others’ hypocrisy. S if for…
SQUAD GOAL – An aspirational group of friends you see and want to be like, adopting their lives and style. SORRY NOT SORRY – Are you sorry? Are you not sorry? Both and neither. You should apologise but don’t feel in the least contrite. SLAY – To win at something. Similar to ‘killing it’. Used on Twitter or Instagram with great outfit. As in: ‘Another day. Another slay.’ T is for… THROWING SHADE – Putting someone down in a sneaky way. Passive aggression at its worst. You: ‘Some people never seem to wash up their skinny soya latte mug.’ Everyone looks at Amy. Amy: ‘You throwing shade at me?’ THIRSTY – Someone who is trying a bit hard for approval. You posted a third photo this week of the new houseplant and it has only got 12 likes? You’re a bit thirsty. U is for… UMFRIEND – Having a physical relationship with someone but they are not quite yet your girlfriend/boyfriend. As in: ‘Hi everyone, this is Anastasia. She is my . . . um . . . friend.’ V is for… V – Aka very, but without your poor aching thumbs having to type the last three letters. W is for … WOKE – Someone who is switched-on and right-on. They champion social justice, marched for #MeToo and know a terrifying amount about sustainability. As in: ‘Emily’s so woke.’ X is for… XENNIALS – Born between 1977 and 1985, Xennials are sandwiched between millennials and GenXers. Too old to enjoy twerking yet too young to remember sending postcards, they’ve forged a third micro hybrid generation. Y is for… YAAAAAAS! – A yes so enthusiastic spelling no longer matters. More ‘A’s the stronger. Z is for… GENERATION Z – The age group that comes after millennials. Born from the mid-Nineties to early 2000s, they are currently between 13 and 23, and are also known as ‘post-millennials’ or the ‘iGeneration’. They can’t remember dialup internet or 9/11 but can build you a computer from scratch. After millennials – a scary enough prospect – they will rule the world.