I reject "sus" being zoomer exclusive. Among Us has been a huge hit for 5 years now, was popular across demographics, and made an appearance in Glass Onion, which is the boomeriest Millennial movie ever.
The rest of it, sure, go off fam.
I agree, but for a different reason. I had an Aussie friend that said "sus" all the time on IRC, and that was in the 00's, so it well predates Among Us.
Ok, maybe suss is Australian. I was surprised to see it listed with "on cap" because I've heard suss being said all my life by a wide range of people, but I did grow up in Australia.
I have appropriated “sus” and “yeet” and sometimes “gucci”…I think those don’t even come from the same gens of slang, but they feel right in a sentence. Especially yeet.
I'm pretty sure my friends and I have incorrectly appropriated yeet. We'll use it in the normal way but we'll also say yeet like sweet or hell yeah. We're all upper 20s now so it feels rather hilarious.
Deadass on fleek
Oh no, I liked Glass Onion...
Sus is literally part of the Australian vernacular and was in use when I was a kid.
Thank you! I thought I was going mad because I distinctly remember saying "sus" when I was in highschool in the early 2000s. It was definitely used both as "go sus it out" but also "don't sus us miss" was something we said all the time when a teacher tried to catch students smoking behind the portables.
So it sort of just feels like Gen Z expanded the definition.
I get most of my slang from among us and then I learn the correct usage on tiktok and then I purposely do it wrong because aging is fun and I'm a parent.
As a millennial, describing something as fire, or mids, that was us. Y'all youngings are appropriating old people culture. That's how we described weed in the 2000s.
Edit: also when kids were saying 'ratchet', that was a direct descendent of Nurse Ratchet in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Ken Keasy used that name to be a homonym for "rat shit." Next time you hear so e drop 'ratchet,' ask them what it means. They won't even know.
It's weird how old slang crops up like that. Ratchet was like, the 60s.
Edit2: I predict "kind" will get taken in, like "KB" or "kind bud" to mean "dope". Like "you those shoes are kind, fam".
I also predict that "beasters" might make it's way in, but "beast" already meaning "dominate" might trip it up, because "beasters" were weed that was grown rushed with phosphates in the soil in indoor hydroponic labs, and that shit had lower THC content than most mids, looked better, but smelled off. Dead giveaway was hollow stems. Idk. Calling beats by dre headphones "beasters" would be a fitting insult to their products.
Fleek died the moment someone managed to get that fire started. Good riddance.
"Yo" is another one that the Zoomers love. I haven't heard so much usage of that word since the mid 90s. And "bruh" is just another form of "bro"/"brah".
Another good example is when twerking made a comeback a few years ago, despite not being a thing since 2000s hip hip.
there was a book (Terry Pratchett?) I read as a young adult that had a character called Yoless because it was the 90s and he didn't ever say "yo" and everyone thought that was notable, weird and hysterical
Or the Harlem Shake, like that wasn't already a thing.
Breh was around in like 2010, bruh really isn't that much different.
Others dislike the word "Mid" because it's youth slang
I dislike the word "Mid" because it's often used to imply that average is bad
I hear mid and I think oh shit, cheaper for more that isn't overpriced shiny crystal smelly shit but still almost smokes the same.
Kinda like every movie, song, and game ever describes as mid lol.
I swear people can't just enjoy popcorn shit anymore which is all anything mid is. Sometimes I don't want to watch the best movie ever. Sometimes I just want to watch stupid lighthearted comedy that doesn't take itself too seriously. Sometimes I just want another stock standard Meteoidvania or Harvest Moon clone.
When you quit chasing new highs constantly, even the old highs work well. And I don't even smoke lol.
Aladeen fam
I take it as average rather than great, which while it does have a less than stellar implication, doesn't seem like it is inherently bad. Moreso a "meets expectations" with a hint of "there are better options available"
Her name is Ratched, not Ratchet.
ask them what it means. They won't even know.
I'd argue they'd know what it means but wouldn't know the origin. Words evolve. I just learned this etymology now but I've always known what it meant implicitly when said. Tbh I assumed it was more local/rural slang when I was younger because I mainly heard it from other kids, not in media, etc.
I guess what I mean is if you asked them with regard to the etymology... Ratchet is a word. It has a meaning highly disparate from "shitty." Like, it's a tool. A noun. It does things.
So kids using this word against its actual meaning, ask them why and they won't understand.
Like if I asked you why you were using the word ratchet (say yesterday), which is a tool that helps turn bolts, in place of the word "shitty" and you'd be all 🤷♂️🤷♂️
I like the cut of your jib, sir.
I thought it was an AAVE corruption of "wretched". Nurse Ratched was certainly that, but it didn't derive from the character's name. Urban Louisiana slang, more like.
Is teaching AAVE a thing anymore or did they decide it was racist? I can't keep up. I know for a while there was an argument that teaching AAVE at schools was designed to entrench a kind of linguistic class ghetto, but then you also had the liberal "hecking valid" argument, and I'm not sure what the current party line is.
Nurse Ratchet has nothing to do with African American Vernacular English, or "ebonics".
Just gonna add that bringing AAVE and education into the conversation (which has nothing to do with ebonics or education whatsoever) makes you come off a bit like a possible race baiting dog whistler. It's an amazingly easy thing to avoid, so I've tagged you with a cute lil nickname to keep track.
I had this conversation with one of my kids recently:
Her: "This thing is gas!"
Me: "Gas? Why are you talking like your grandpa in 1965?"
Her: " What are you yapping about? They don't know what 'gas' means!"
Me: "You wanna bet? Ain't you ever heard that Rolling Stones song? Jumpin' Jack Flash, it's a gas...?'
Her: "Bruh..."
Me: "Don't shoot the messenger."
It's amazing watching young adults discover that their new fad is a rehash of concepts that are decades old.
You mean bellbottoms and "cottage core" aren't new & edgy? D'oh.
In the 90s, when everyone started using the word fat/phat, I found out from an article that it's usage that way could be traced back to 1920s jazz musicians. Everything old is new again.
I always thought the word "ginormous" (a portmanteau of gigantic and enormous) was totally modern, but then I read a book published in 1943 by a Battle of Britain Spitfire pilot which had "ginormous" in its glossary section.
fire and sus have been around for ages but gen z can have the lack of caps.
Millennials reading this post
I've heard fire my whole life but I'm calling cap on sus being as popular or common for so long
Yeah, I'd never heard "no cap", but the other two almost feel old at this point.
My favorite part of growing older is misusing slang to pain The Youths™
Yeah that's pretty yeet
Yeah that's all rizzed up
Growing up, I thought adults were out of touch. Now I realize that kids just take some things way too seriously and it's hilarious to exploit.
Right? It's one of the better parts of growing older
I swear down you finna cap that bruh
skibidi morning to you fellow gyamer
My millennial (or maybe gen x) roommate spends a lot of time on tiltok, so she's always teaching me (a gen z) new 'gen z' slang.
It's fun, but on the other hand she has a pretty skewed perception of young people. She's always watching engagement-bait content online, and she seems to think most people my age are complete idiots.
I mean don't get me wrong, we are idiots, but we're not a different species or anything lol.
Do not let generational gaps fool you, most people are idiots
People who complain about younger people are the biggest idiots who forgot that other idiots said the same about them a long time ago. Same with those who complain about older people a little too much.
Yup. I went to school and college with some monumental idiots back in the day. I had my moments too, of course. Idiocy transcends generations.
She sounds like an idiot fr fr.
she seems to think most people my age are complete idiots.
Very boomer of her.
No. Gen Z is the future. The rest of us are dinosaurs.
Love, someone who manages students at a university.
but we're not a different species or anything lol
[Citation Needed]
I'm Australian, I've been calling things sus since the 90s.
Same, it was just a happy accident that our slang made it mainstream I guess.
It's all predominantly young kids adopting/appropriating American Black vernacular and calling it their own. Millennials did it, genz does it. Go ahead and down vote me, my back hurts.
See people say this like it's Black vernacular but dont recognize that it's just urban vernacular. Urban vernacular changes frequently because there's more people around. The internet adopts it quickly, and it spreads from there, as the actual initial definition of a memetic concept.
There's a reason society as a whole doesn't co-opt rural Black vernacular, and it's because it isn't actually racially-based.
Exactly. I just had this argument with a couple of friends who were raised rich white kids, in the rich white neighborhood. They were criticizing me for appropriating black vernacular, and wouldn't believe me that my entire neighborhood and school spoke that way. It's inter-urban (poor) slang, not specifically black. Most of my neighborhood was Mexican, yet they all used these terms. Granted, they have different inflections on the words, but the vocabulary is pretty much the same. Anyways, now I have friends accusing me of racism for speaking the way I've spoken my entire life. I just hadn't loosened up enough to speak that way around them before. Ain't identity politics grand?
There's MLE (multicultural London English) in the UK. Must be similar all over.
I like to mix and match to annoy my younger brother. Example, "fr fr, no skibidy, on cap".
I'm pretty sure skibidi isn't even used except to annoy the youngins lol
Reminds me of skatman john I wonder if it’s a reference Frfr
I'm approaching 40 rapidly, I can't say "based" without cringing.
Based God, Li'l B is 34, so don't feel bad
I'm almost 37 and dunno what based, rule, or no cap mean. They all make me cringe though.
I've found that if I don't say those things and just treat younger people with respect then I don't get made fun of for being old so much.
Based.
Based comment? lol
I use these terms sometimes, but I'm 26, I don't feel old enough to be a millennial but not young enough to be Gen Z. I'm in college now though and I'm older than all my classmates and that makes me feel old as shit.
Zillenial gang
Hello fellow transitional generation member.
I feel like fire was ours unless it's just been a localized slang. I feel like I've been saying it for like 10 years, maybe more. Maybe I just got the ole dementia.
Yeah, that's one that I think just never totally went away but has had a resurgence
Gen X here. Whatever...
My wife and I (both Xers) have started frequently trolling our son with "stop the cap!" when he's being... economical with the truth. Somehow that level of low-grade, passive-aggressive sarcasm seems very fitting to our generation.
Nevermind
I'm Gen-X. My 13-year-old daughter is under instructions to never call me 'bro' or 'bruh.'
My nephew's do that to my brother-in-law. They also call him 'dude.'
Dude is weird to me, but calling me 'bro' is just wrong. I want to be called Dad or Daddy. She's mostly okay with that.
I am not partial to informal nicknames. If I stand with a group of my male coworkers I usually greet them with “gentleman” or something that. I don’t work with a lot of women but I’m not sure what to say to a group of women. Ladies seems kind of demeaning and gentlewomen sounds weird to me. I usually just go with miss or ma’am.
Having come up in the 90s-00s, the few times I've been called "daddy" were a little surprising at the time ("it's just something I say, don't overthink it", etc), but thankfully said moments were in the rear-view quickly enough.
In later years, my kids didn't add the "y" and one even asked why other kids say it that way. Hell, I'm ok with "dude" from my kids or their friends, in certain contexts, but "bruh"? Might as well try calling me "son" or "boy", and see how that flies, child. 🤪
No cap, fr fr
For some reason "fr" is so frustrating. I am such a boomer :/
I'd like to upset some niblings with "fr fr, ong"... Does anyone know if "fr" is pronounced as one word like in "from", or if I'm supposed to just say "eff arr"? Same for "ong," please.
I always thought it was like an abbreviation for "for real"
Radical
Gnarly
Cowabunga dude
Bossa Nova!
...
Chevy Nova?
Kowabunga
art deco dude!
Bawitdaba, da bang, da dang diggy diggy Diggy, said the boogie, said up jump the boogie
What does "no cap" mean?
Millennial here. I’ve heard from the younger folks that it means something like “no lie”, or “I swear this is true”.
Being out of touch, I’m not sure if this is synonymous with “deadass”.
grandpa-Simpson-i-used-to-be-with-it.png
I'm going to offer my own theory here, which doesn't seem to be in line with the most popular theories which seem to me to be creative guesses at the origin.
I think it's possibly from twitch.tv culture. "Kappa" was a popular emote with a smug face often used to denote sarcasm. Plenty of streamers have used the phrase "No kappa" to indicate they're not joking, and some shortened it to "no kap". Since it was passed on orally, it became mistranscribed to "no cap." People were looking for an explanation for a phrase that didn't exist, and inadvertently invented one, which became the predominant theory that you'll find if you search for "no cap origin."
This was my theory too when I first heard it said. It wasn’t till later when I saw it spelled that I realized it’s “no cap” and not “no kap”.
I still got perfect understanding of the meaning from thinking about it in terms of the Kappa emote.
No, I'm pretty sure it came from hip hop culture, like a lot of slang recently. I'm basing this purely my anecdotal observation of the kind of people who use it most frequently.
I've heard it in lyrics from long before twitch existed
In Black slang, to cap about something is “to brag,” “to exaggerate,” or “to lie” about it. This meaning of cap dates back to the early 1900s.
I'm going to go with this theory, because I at least know what Kappa is
think: "no joke", "s'truth", "for real", "no lie"
It's the true-true.
Replace "cap" with "shit" and it means the same thing.
https://www.dictionary.com/e/slang/no-cap/
Has history in Atlanta black slang from the 1940s. However, "cap" isn't short for anything I can find. (I was hoping "capitulate").
I just realized that I’m probably older than George. At least in the earlier seasons.
This is always upsetting.
Same for rewatching iasip. I think they're late 20s when it started.
I don’t like this game
I was particularly surprised at how quickly millennial sayings aged.
Which, um.. which ones are we not supposed to be saying anymore..? Asking for a friend...
My observation as a Xillenial:
Millenials tended to have negative-meaning slang. It's like the generation expressed its angst.
Zoomers tend to have positive-meaning slang. This generation does not try to follow the Boomer dream and focuses its energy elsewhere.
###I mean, ngl, sus fr fr, no cap
These arent meant to be spoken out loud anyway.
If I’m forced to say it to fit in, it’s your fault.
My day, never came, I am old and without prime
Can someone also explain 'go brrr', cause I just think of vibrating doorstop springs, but that can't be right...
No I'm pretty sure that's right
It's from a meme, "Money printer go brrrr"
which was I think a spin off of the "It prints money!" meme for the original Wii(Edit: did some research and I think they're unrelated.) Its the sound of the machine, printing money, it go brrr.I've seen it used for all kinds of things, but "go brrr" is basically a dismissive way of talking about how "winning" something is.
Edit: I think Picard Manuever explains it better actually, and while I don't think my usage note is untrue from how I've seen the meme used in evolutions, I'd have to agree that it originally and usually takes the form they described.
It's just the sound of some machine running, but the meme is usually something along the lines of:
"You can't do X, you have to do Y!"
"X goes brrrr"
The humor is in stubbornly doing something in a dumb way.
It's generally finding amusement in something doing what it's supposed to do in a straight forward and effective manner, in contrast with an alternative overly complex method.
Pretty sure it's supposed to be the sound of a machine running. Most popular example I can think of is "haha money printer go brrr".
It can also be a reference to the A-10 close air support fighter, whose main gun is notable for emitting a very loud brrrrrrrt sound.
It's the sound of the A-10 Warthog's main gun. It became a meme over a couple decades of war. "If brute force isn't working, you're not using enough of it," kind of captures the gleeful power and arrogance.
The US government printed a lot of money after the 2008 financial crisis. Some people criticised this, saying it would devalue the US Dollar. But the government went ahead with the plan, resulting in a meme where critics bring up a lot of arguments and Obama (?) says 'haha money printer go brr'.
Are millennials the new boomers now? Or is this meme about older generations making fun of millennials? I can't follow anymore.
Dontcha know? Millennials are any young kids they don't understand. Who is "they"? Idk, probably boomers, since boomers are any old out of touch people they don't understand.
I first assumed it was made by a millennial but that may be because I am one myself. If we do end up being the next mocked generation I will at least get a little amusement out of genx getting the shaft again.
Omg I am old lol
I want to make going Tuna a thing.
Do any self respecting millenials say those things?
This meme is pretty sus tbh.
How is “it’s sus” a Gen Z thing when we were saying it in the 90s?
Not to sound like a boommer but I really dislike "finna" like how much do you need to shorten a term like finally gonna
😲 I thought it was slang for "fixing"!
As in "Fixing to do x, y, z" which in my mind meant "I am preparing to do x, y, z"
It's dialectic -- there's lot's of them in the US, but this one afk belongs to Black American English, and is shortened from "fixin' to." Personally, I think it's cool to see so many variations of English. The language is definitely not static; it is changing all the time!
"finna" has been around since the 90s, I just listened to a tupac song where they were saying that
Short form of “fixin to” (pronounced “fixin tuh”)
Usually implies “I’m” fixing to. Often said without much emphasis, as it’s just introducing the important part of the phrase. I think it’s actually a pretty neat way to keep the emphasis where it needs to be.
“Finna get outta here” uses 3/4 of the phrase to convey the important action of “leaving”
vs. “I’m fixing to get out of here” uses 1/2 of the phrase on useless info that “I” am the one doing the leaving and that it hasn’t happened yet but is about to.
Finally gonna is already a slang shortening of "I am finally going to...". Or even better, "I will finally...".
These terms used to bother me too, until I just full-on embraced them. Now I use them both ironically, and unironically, just never at work. They're really good for text messaging because of their brevity. They combine multiple words into a single short word.
