Tween and Teen

Yo! Skanky person!

We’re in trouble, already, aren’t we? One day the writer — that would be me — welcomes the challenge of investigating the latest in teen lingo, and the next day she begins to appreciate the predicament she’s in.

For openers, consider the words “teen lingo.” The writer fears that if she uses these words when approaching teens for this assignment, she will be mocked mercilessly. Eyeballs will roll. Worse, she may be ignored, the teens in question, possessors of all that is powerful, walking straight past, deeming the writer’s pleas for assistance to be so beneath them.

The alternative, perhaps, is to bypass the words “teen lingo” and launch straight into usage of said lingo, pretending to be, uh, phat. No, that’s not right. Uh, sick! Illin? Can anyone over the age of, oh, 19, pull off such a stunt? Should anyone even try?

The last time the writer understood the complexities of appropriating the voice of younger people was in the era of “gag me with a spoon.” The mid-’80s Valley Speak, sprung from California’s San Fernando Valley, spread like brush fire and, like, in may ways, you know, remains with us. Totally.

But today is trickier. Today’s lingo is largely a by-product of hip hop, filtered through rap music with the predictable undertow of anti-mainstream culture. It’s far less transparent.

On the upside, it’s way more fun. The downside? There’s no master list. So the writer, emboldened, speaks with a variety of People Who Are Almost Adults But Who Aren’t, and who live in the (neighbour)hood. She inquires as to how such people talk. She realizes the clumsiness of her approach makes them sound like Martians. She is past the point of embarrassment. This is what they say:

Bait/bait out: Also, caught/caught out. Obvious parental inferences. “No, I can’t go to the mall. I’ve been bait out.”

Bling/bling bling: Noun and verb, describing the wearing of ostentatious jewellery. “That’s some bling you got there.” Role model: Rap artist and recording mogul Sean (P. Diddy) Combs. According to The New York Times Magazine, “bling blinging is most easily understood as flaunting that $1 million Piaget diamond-crusted watch. It doesn’t tell time any better than a plastic Casio; it does send a clear message that the wearer has money to burn.”

Bounce: Leave, clear out. “I’m bored. Let’s bounce.”

Cheddar/chedda: Money. One Internet site suggests this usage: “Yo, what’s up with that cheddar you owe me?” Try it three times in the privacy of your bathroom. Try not to laugh.

Chill/chillin’: Hanging out, as in, “We’re just chillin’.” Replaced the very west coast “kicking back,” which was replaced by “kickin’ it” before re-emerging as “chillin’.” Resist the temptation to show off your knowledge by talking about The Big Chill. They don’t care.

Chillax: To chill and relax concur-rently. This may sound redundant. Advice: It’s unwise to suggest any grammatical points of weakness to the tribe, as you run the risk of being shut out of further explanations of what the words actually mean. (Also, chizzil.)

Crib: Home. Or where one hangs. Hence, “I gotta head back to the crib.” Gives a clear picture of how the linguist views home life.

Cris: Fine, good. Pronounced with a hard C and short I. “How ya doin?” “Cris.”

Dawg: Friend. “’Sup, dawg?”

Dude: So done, yet still in use —particularly among skaters (skateboarders). “Dude, awesome fakey 180 grind.”

Fa’sheezy, fasheezi, fashazel, fo’shizzle: And other variations, all meaning “for sure.”

Fly: In style. Cool. Can also refer to a person deemed attractive. “That’s so fly.” Or “She’s fly.”

Funky: No, it isn’t back. Just threw it in to see if you were paying attention.

Homie: Pal. Buddy. “Yo, homie, ’sup?” Plural usage, variously, homes or homies.

Homeboy/homegirl: Boyfriend, girlfriend.

Ill: The word formerly known as “cool.” (See “Sick.”) Appears to have gained universal popularity. Usually uttered in the unelaborative answers common to the teen fraternity: “That’s ill, bro.”

Lampin’: West coast equivalent of chillin’.

Old school (or Old skool): This one’s tricky. Means old style that’s back in style. Translation: everything you threw away in the ’70s. May include macramé.

Overshare: A shortcut for telling the speaker he/she is offering too much information. “So I coughed and this really icky green stuff…” “Overshare!”

Phat: Way cool, way attractive. Can be used to describe a person, though now more commonly used to describe a thing or circumstance. Various attempts have been made to explain the word’s origins, including an acronym for Pretty Hips and Thighs. Best not to go there, but stick with the obvious: What’s phat is phat.

Poseur: “He’s such a poseur.” No surprises here. A poseur is someone who pretends to be something he/she is not, or who pretends to be able to do something he/she cannot. “He says he can do a 50-50.” “No way. He’s such a poseur.”

Random: When people say or do something unexpected. “What Sheila said, that was so random.” Also describes anyone new, uninvited, unwanted, uncool, out of place, etc. “The party sucked. All these randoms showed up.”

Sick: Cool. (See “Ill.”) According to The Seattle Times, sportscasters have started using this phrase on air, a sure sign that its days are numbered. “That Junk Yard Dog, he’s sick, man.”

Sketchy: Opposite of sick. Something cheap, done to a poor standard. “That movie was sketchy.”

Suuweeet: Must be drawn out in that way, uttered, if possible, with a note of wonderment. “Did you see that backflip? That was suuweeet!” Without the emphasis, it does not work. This one has been around for a dog’s age.

Trippin’: To have a problem, the non-psychedelic version. “She’s trippin’.”

Truethat: That’s right. Sometimes said as “tru dat.” When you ask the question, “Did you clean up your dishes?” this is unlikely to be the response.

Whack: Really good. Or really bad. Depends entirely on inflection. “Oh, she’s so whack.” (Good.) “Oh that movie was so whack.” (Bad.)

Whackasella: Some thing or person that is whack in either a good or bad way. See above.

Wassup: The self-explanatory catch-phrase that will not die. Incongruously launched at the 2000 Super Bowl as the central sound bite to a Budweiser commercial. Pronounced “Whaazzaah?” Abbreviation: ’Sup?

Word: Amen. Used to concur with something said by someone else. Unlikely to be used in response to any expression/phrase/request/ command issued by a parent. Also, word-up, meaning ’sup?

The word “skanky” can be traced at least as far back as the ’70s, when it appeared as a tag-on to “skank,” meaning a dance performed to reggae music. To dance to such music in a sexually suggestive way was to be “skanky.” The implication was that the skankee, always female, had loose sexual morals.

By the mid-’80s, “skanky” had gone mainstream, though often used to describe an object as ugly-smelly. In June 1986, the New Jersey Record ran an article featuring this quote: “Some of the bathrooms are so skanky that you’re almost afraid to go in.”

Five years later, skanky, defined as merely “ugly,” appeared on a list of teen slang in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, though that may have been an untutored elder journalist at work. Interestingly, the circa 1991 list also included “crib,” “homie” and “fly.”

Forbes magazine, that bastion of conservative business, described a pair of men’s flannel shorts as “skanky” in 1997. The magazine, having got it so wrong, has shied away from its use since. The British Broadcasting Corporation a year later decreed that skanky meant “posh,” as in snobby.

The word soon became a common descriptive for the likes of Christina Aguilera, used to reflect a suspect, and clearly skimpy, sense of fashion.

Some wear skankiness as a badge of honour, particularly when age becomes an issue. When Brit rock group The Pretenders went on tour last winter, the indomitable Chrissie Hynde acknowledged the surfeit of Canadian rock chicks. “But none of them are as skanky as me,” said the 51-year-old Hynde proudly.

For parents uncomfortable with the word, I offer a small ray of hope. “Skanky” has gained etymological legitimacy, featured in the Concise Oxford Dictionary and lesser references. Surely a sign that the word’s “street cred” is quickly evaporating.