Tweens and teens have always used language and phrases that push boundaries and set them apart from us ‘elders.’
Back in the 1990s my parents rolled their eyes at me when I yelled “as if!” one too many times, and now it’s my turn for eye rolling when my boys call me “bruh” or say something cryptic about “having rizz”.
Thankfully Louise Boyce, an author and award-winning content creator has my back.
The funny mom-of-three shared a helpful Instagram reel translating a bizarre selection of tween phrases and words.
“This is a public service announcement,” Louise begins her reel to camera.
“For the last 24 hours I have been spending time with some pre-teens and if like me, you have absolutely no idea what they’re talking about, I have managed to decipher some of their words.”
Using a whiteboard and pen, Louise writes each of her pre-teen words down and then follows with an explanation.
Here is the full list as shared by Louise:
With well over 1000 comments, it is clear many of Louise’s followers relate to this inability to understand their kids’ lingo.
While most found the reel hilarious, plenty of Instagrammers wrote that the clip makes them feel “tired” or “terrified.”
Some parents even added their own pre-teen jargon into the mix.
“Accurate, but you are missing ‘skibidi toilet’,” writes one bemused user.
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“Also ‘mew’ for that weird posey look and just saying ‘fit’ instead of ‘outfit’,” writes another.
A few parents took notes and then tried out the new slang on their own kids to gauge the reaction.
“I tried to switch it up on my twins and talked to them like this one day,” the enthusiastic mum writes.
“I was told in no uncertain terms to never speak to them like that again.
“They cringed their way out of the kitchen!”
It seems that while it might be an idea to translate what the kids are saying, as their parents, whatever we do will always be horrifically uncool, as another mum shares.
“My seven-year-old told me, after stopping to chat to a friend in the park that I had ‘busted cringe’ and ‘lost subscribers’.”
Ouch.
It might just be time to dip.