As time passes, the meanings of words evolve. Connotations change, meanings expand, and some words are even abandoned and left in the past. Some may wonder how this is possible, and the simple truth is that language is actually a fairly fluid concept that constantly bends and shapes into different forms.
Think about how we once knew “eating” as an action where we consume food, but now, it can refer to doing something well, and this is only one example of how words evolve.
Sometimes, we even abandon words entirely, making them a thing of the past. This often occurs due to the influence of social media and how we become more modern. In other scenarios, the internet will take a word, vague out its meaning, and use it to describe a new fad among the youth.
We teenagers, wanting simpler words and abbreviations, turn to simpler slang. Instead of formal adjectives, we advance into more informal language, which has this “cool” tone that entices us. We shorten phrases like “Oh my God” into the abbreviation “OMG”, which offers simplicity while conveying the same feeling.
Additionally, we create new words from old, more antiquated ones. For example, the word “rizz,” a (now old) slang term, was made popular first on the platform TikTok, but it actually originates from the word “charisma,” which means the same thing. The only difference between “rizz” and “charisma” is that one is more informal and popular among the youth, while the other is old and unused.
Along with modern-day examples, there are numerous historical ones. What we now consider Shakespeare’s language was new around his time; in fact, it was considered new slang! It slowly became outdated, though, and was replaced by the new era’s terms.
Many different places around the world have their own slang. While the most well-known version of it is probably modern Gen Z slang, there are many other kinds. AAVE, or African American Vernacular English, has a bit of its own slang, along with British slang, Cantonese internet slang, and more. So many cultures have their own versions of popular phrases that contribute to the growth and fluidity of slang. These words didn’t pop out of nowhere; they grew into what they are now!
Language has truly proven to us how fluent it really is, with words changing meaning and new slang appearing every day; it truly is fascinating how this all happens.
Everybody is familiar with how our parents always ask us, “What does sigma mean?” or “What is IDK?” This is because we are constantly making up new terms, and older generations can’t always keep up.
What do these changes mean for us? It means that we will constantly be learning new words and using phrases that make no sense to someone unfamiliar with this era.
We have already gotten used to these switches in our lives, mostly due to the help of how connected we all are online, but it also comes from this phenomenon of little trends common in our day-to-day lives. We are used to switching things up once a new thing becomes popular. With the rise of the trend “67,” you can see how quickly people popularized it and made it something almost everybody has heard about. Slang does nearly the same thing!
Language has always been a form of art; through poems to essays, it conveys emotion. Art itself can be formed into many things due to this creative potential. This brings opportunity to words and phrases, giving them the ability to have creative input through connotation and implication.
Slang comes from this place of simplicity, wanted by society to appear casual but still convey the feeling of being wanted. Language is a magical tool in our hands, and we utilize it through slang!