Why You’re Not Clever Anymore: Teen Slang

It comes at no surprise that teenagers love to express themselves, be it clothing, hair color, or music. Social media has given today’s teenagers ample space to be seen and heard in new ways. ASKfm embodies this spirit, celebrates what teens have to say, and how they connect with each other. Understanding them however, can be difficult if you aren’t in the loop.

We set out to demystify the most well-used terms from the community and came up with a list of trending slang words. Have a look. Feel in the know.

Netflix and chill — code for hooking up or a “booty call”

Savage — used to describe something that is hardcore or extreme, in a good way

AF — acronym “as f***” used to express the severity of something (e.g. hot AF)

TBR — acronym for “to be rude;” usually said before the person shares their true — and harsh — feelings

Peep — can refer either to friends (your people), or to look at/listen to (e.g. peep this)

Slept — can refer to hitting someone hard enough to knock them out, missing out on something awesome, or to be extremely high

GOAT — acronym for “greatest of all time”

No chill — used to describe someone who is being irrational

Likers get rate — a phrase that implies the original poster will rank anyone that likes/comments/answers a post, typically around how cool they are perceived to be or how they look; also used to incent followers to like posts to get something (usually indicated in the post) in return

Frog emoji + coffee cup emoji — based off a popular meme of Kermit the Frog drinking a cup of tea, teens use this emoji combo to sarcastically imply “but that’s none of my business” or “I’m just saying”

PAP: an acronym meaning “ post a picture”

Bad: bad is good, just like it’s always been, except now it’s really good, like hot

Ship: short for relationship

:3: a symbol representing a cat face made by anime characters when they say something clever, sarcastic, or comment on something cute.

IDEK: acronym for “I don’t even know”

IKR: acronym meaning “I know right”

OOTD: acronym for “outfit of the day”, usually to get someone to post a selfie of themselves to share with friends and followers

SMH: acronym for “shaking my head”

Dime: the highest rating on a scale of 1–10; used to share approval or how good something is.

THOT — acronym meaning “that ho over there;” used to describe females with a promiscuous reputation