If you want to look slay with your children, you could try learning their lingo – as new research reveals the speaking habits of today’s youth.
Gone are the days when youngsters in the playground simply called things “cool”, as Oxford University Press (OUP) highlighted three words perhaps unfamiliar with older folk but are now in growing usage.
If you want to communicate that something is impressive or stylish, saying “you slayed it” or “that’s so slay” is likely to mean you’re down with the younger generation.
Slay won OUP’s most popular colloquialism in its Children’s Word of the Year report, but was closely followed by sigma – which is used to describe males who are cool or admirable.
Skibidi was the third slang word to make the shortlist. It has no specific meaning but can describe something that is bad or cool.
Researchers who put together the report wrote: “Language is constantly changing and evolving, and children use words in new and unusual ways to write and communicate.”
However, a perhaps more old-fashioned word triumphed the battle to be the overall Children’s Word of the Year – with kindness well and truly winning the day.
Andrea Quincey, product director for early years and primary at OUP, said the “encouraging” choice reflected youngsters’ “awareness of mental health issues and of the hidden challenges others may be facing”.
She added: “The Oxford Children’s Word of the Year continues to provide us with a fascinating insight into the lives of our young people and the evolution of language across the generations.
“The words and phrases they have chosen and voted for over the last 10 years tell us how aware they are of current affairs and how global issues and events are affecting them; they tell us what young people care about and their hopes and fears for the future.”
Kate Nation, professor in experimental psychology and fellow of St John’s College, Oxford, said: “The words chosen and used by children indicate that language breathes and continues to evolve.
“The Children’s Word of the Year back in 2015 was #hashtag, and this seems to preface what has come next.
“The language of the internet is encouraging new words to emerge – such as sigma and skibidi – and for new meanings to be nudged into existing words.
“The Children’s Word of the Year shows how children and young people embrace opportunities to adapt and use their language creatively.”
