I am a mom and a longtime writing teacher. My kids' slang shows me how fast language is changing.

""What's slanging? I ask my kids, hoping for a tutorial on the latest lingo. "Our teacher threatened yellow slips if anyone reacts again to six-seven," they tell me. That sounds fair to me. My kids are no strangers to "bruh," and the occasional "slay," "chat," or "aura" slips out, but mostly they observe the terminology more than they use it. It's as if slang has become more environmental than conversational - absorbed through memes, TikToks, and YouTube shorts rather than invented face-to-face.""

""I've always been fascinated by how slang evolves and marks belonging, a perspective shaped by a Ph.D. in English and over two decades of teaching writing. When I was their age, my older brother swore he invented the word "cheesy," and I believed him. This was the same era of "grody to the max," "take a chill pill," and saying "not," following an expression you wanted to undo.""

""Today's mainstream slang catches quickly and burns out fast, but the impulse for creative wordplay and shared inside language hasn't disappeared. In fact, there's a notable resurgence of informal language and catchphrases, surfacing in social media feeds and slipping into everyday conversation. These expressions can be irritating and laughable at times, as the recent " Saturday Night Live" "Boys Podcast" sketch captured, but they also suggest something else: a kind of post-pandemic recovery, a return to the shared inventiveness that makes language and community feel alive""

Digital culture spreads and dilutes new expressions quickly, making slang more environmental than conversational. Social media, memes, TikToks, YouTube shorts and AI make slang mainstream and accelerate adoption and attrition. Slang still fosters creative wordplay and shared inventiveness, but fast circulation reduces its power as a membership signal. Children often observe terminology more than actively invent it, absorbing language through feeds rather than face-to-face co-creation. Despite rapid burnout of catchphrases, informal language is resurging in everyday conversation and may signal post-pandemic recovery of communal creativity. Crafting personal slang at home can foster creativity, connection, and a renewed sense of belonging.

Read at Business Insider