AT: Slang has always been present in human societies and almost always is what linguists call a “change from below”—innovative language that comes from the people—rather than a “change from above” from elites and institutions like schools and dictionaries. 

Slang very often comes from subcultures, and above all from youth—every generation makes its own enriching contributions to the language! Due to its identity functions and role as a new form of cultural expression, it spreads quickly, especially among young people. Its original meanings can shift, and new meanings can appear or disappear over time. This process is even faster nowadays with social media amplifying communication’s speed and reach. Trends go viral very quickly even on an international level.  

PH: Why do we love slang so much? 

AT: Slang is strongly associated with identity. The way you speak marks you as a member of different groups. For example, one of the most popular slang expressions in 1969, the year of the hippie festival Woodstock that symbolized the counterculture 60’s, was “out of sight.” No one nowadays would use that term—I don’t think I’ve even heard it used during my lifetime, let alone that of current AU students!  

Generational micro-trends are very nuanced. Non-traditional meanings for words like “ate” and “bet” are likely familiar to current 20-year-olds, but nonsensical to their parents. Meanwhile, even college students complain that they don’t know what teenagers mean with the viral “6-7” trend. Regional terms also differ: Northern California says “hella” while “deadass” seems to have started in New York City and spread from the East Coast around the country. And “deadass” reminds us that much American slang has its roots in the rich culture of African American English, although that history is often invisibilized.  

Other communities have contributed many words too, such as Yiddish—think “shlep” and “putz”—and “ese,” which is part of Mexican-American slang. Celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain delighted in describing kitchen slang, some of which, such as “86”, has made its way into popular usage. Other occupations, such as the military (“MIA”) and gambling (“put your cards on the table,” and “when the chips are down”) have also left traces.  

There are so many examples. Slang can be a type of secret or intimate language that creates solidarity and excludes outsiders. I also think people like slang because wordplay is just fun! We should also remember, though, that slang can unfortunately be part of linguistic discrimination, where non-standard language, particularly that associated with minoritized groups, can be looked down on as “uneducated” and used to stereotype people. We need to keep in mind that language is always changing, and everyone has their own linguistic repertoire and adapts their speech depending on various situations.  

PH: “67” is Dictionary.com’s word of the year. What does it mean? And how did it spread so fast? 

AT: As far as I can tell, it doesn’t “mean” anything in the sense of having a fixed referent, which makes it almost a pure expression of slang as an insider trend. “6-7” highlights slang’s social and cultural functions as Generation Alpha forms a unique identity that’s different from their older brothers and sisters. I’ve heard it called “brain rot,” another generational term that refers to over-saturation of social media consumption with a sense of self-awareness or irony. 

Twenty years from now, we’ll probably still be hearing arguments at family gatherings—younger family members reminiscing fondly about how they used to shout “6-7” with their friends in middle school, and older siblings, still exasperated, arguing, “6-7 is stupid! It doesn’t even mean anything!” Meanwhile, their parents said the same thing about their slang, as did their grandparents. But social media allowed “6-7” to spread further and faster than slang could in the past.  

PH: And when slang like “6-7”moves from its original community to the mainstream—especially when older generations start using it—how does its meaning change? 

AT: Generational slang tends to stay generational specifically because it’s so associated with age. Parents don’t want to sound like their kids, and it’s cringe-worthy when they try to copy them because they usually can’t do it right.  

Slang tends to go mainstream when it’s used extensively in broader society so it loses some of these specific identity associations. For example, “cool” has been completely mainstreamed (though we’re still aware that it’s not formal enough to use when writing an essay). “Dude” spread into common usage when surfer subculture was popularized through movies and music in the 1970s and 80s, to now being used to get the attention of a mixed-gender group. Both words were practically useful and expressed a kind of countercultural cultural value which kept them relevant. And it’s worth mentioning again that both slang terms either originated with or were popularized by Black American culture before being mainstreamed and their origins largely forgotten. Time will tell what current youth slang will endure and whether “6-7” will mainstream.  

PH: Just for fun: Do you have a favorite slang word or expression from anytime in your life? 

AT: As a linguist, I love “f*ck”’s marvelous versatility in modern American English. Can I say that here? But linguists don’t judge, and we’re talking about slang, so we can’t exclude obscenities. And f*ck’s creative usage has spread so much in colloquial American English that many of its usages are barely even considered obscene in casual contexts.  

It can be used as noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, a discourse marker, and even an infix (a morpheme inserted into the middle of a word—we have very few in English, and f*ck is one of them!). It’s an intensifier, meaning it strengthens the meaning of other words, has given rise to idiomatic phrases, and in general adds an expressive color to our language. It also has a rich and surprisingly mysterious history dating to at least the 15th century!