My generation is uniquely weird. I'm sure other generations are as well. I'm sure there's even a lot of cross-over between multiple generations. But for the purposes of this article, I'll be looking at popular turns of phrases for people born in the 1980s to the mid-1990s. Generation Y.
My generation says many weird things. These are things that we accept as normal and might even be used in polite conversation (whether accidentally or intentional.) We've adopted them so fully that they invade our entire world, infiltrating every microcosm of empty space in our brains so that one day we might slip up and say to our boss when his phone rings, "Omg Bob, you're blowing up and the ringtone LMFAO's 'Yes' made me lol."
Here are a few of my favorites.
You're blowing up, grandma
Oftentimes when ones cellular device rings, you can hear someone say the words "you're blowing up." As in, your cell phone is ringing, you should pick it up. It's done to bring attention to the phone call that the person may not be aware of. It can be accompanied by the word "man," "dude," or "kid" at the end, to address the person to whom they are speaking. I think the phrase is hilarious, and use it as often as I can. (Read: every phone call not made to a boss or manager.) Yes, you might not say this to, say, your grandmother, but tell me you haven't used it for a co-worker, friend, or maybe even a professor you're friendly with. Maybe.
Enough said.
Awkward, to many people in my generation, can be used in all scenarios. I've gone through maybe just a handful of days when I haven't heard someone exclaim that one thing or another was awkward. You see, to Gen. Y, everything is awkward. Everything. He was awkward, she's a bit awkward, when that kid said that it was
so awkward. When he smiled at me it was kind of awkward, her friend being there was so awkward, the music made it awkward. Etc. etc. etc.
My generation has forgotten other delightful, more apt words that can be used in lieu of awkward, so that now the word itself has surpassed its true meaning of "mildly uncomfortable embarrassment" to now be used in terms of clothing choices, describing ill-fated dates, and personal preferences. Also, relatedly, the word "un-comfortable" is almost as popular as awkward, and is meant to be said drawn out with an emphasis on the "uuuuun."
2.b. The Awkward Turtle: The word awkward is so ubiquitous that it even has its own sign. To inform others of an awkward event without words, one can just place one hand on top of the other and twirl the thumbs around to inform others how they feel. (Awkward.) See above. This hand movement actually means "Sea Turtle" in American Sign Language. I'm not sure who came up with the idea of using the symbol in conversation or decided that sea turtles were kinda awkward (which makes me feel a bit bad about sea turtles getting such a bad rap) but there you have it. Akwardness so universal that we can now communicate it through symbol.
This is very sketchy.
Sketchy is also a terribly overplayed adjective. Any boy (or girl, I suppose, though I've only heard it used in terms of boys) can be sketchy. Sketchy can range from being merely quiet to being overly enthusiastic, and other various forms of making others feel uncomfortable (or "sketching them out.") To be sketchy, one must also have an air of sexual menace about them. It's like being creeped out, but one doesn't necessarily have to have something happen to them to justify the feeling. It is a much more lackadaiscal term to be applied whenever a person feels weirded out, even if in fact the person is only being weirded out because they themselves are socially awkward.
4. Internet Lingo: Any type of internet lingo used in non-internet-related settings is a popular choice for my generation when they are trying to be cute, clever, or quipy. How many times have you heard people say the following acronyms in conversation? Brb, omg, wtf, rofl. I had a friend Grant who would sound out the acronym instead of saying the letters individually, so instead of saying "r-oh-eff-elle" for rofl (ie, rolling on floor laughing) he would just say "roffle," which I think is way better. There's "omg," pronounced either "oh-em-gee" or the more whimsical "ahmg." Also a personal favorite "wtf" which stands for something highly improper, but by stating wtf the phrase becomes much innocuous and way funnier. I think.
Nearly every person I know has at one time or another said these things in normal conversation, whether with an ironic inflection in their tone or not. Don't deny it.
Just a couple of bros, bro-ing it out
5. A "Bro-mance." Girls can cuddle with each other, give backrubs, play with each others hair, and tell each other how hot they look before they go out without an ounce of social repercussion. Guys, however, have not always been so lucky. Guys must join intramural leagues, play videogames, and punch each other in the shoulder to show that they love each other.
But with a "Bro-mance" (a play on the word "romance" and "bro". Oh- portmanteaus!) guys can now declare their love aloud and through stereotypically girl-related activities. I have some friends who actively enjoy going on dates to coffee shops with other bros and the television show Gossip Girl. And it's all cool, thanks to being able to simply state that they have a bro-mance. It's like a get out of jail free card for guy love.
This one is less popular than the other ones, admittedly, but still makes me giggle every time I hear it. There's also the variant of bromance, which is "bro-ing out." A context clue sentence: Zack and Jack? Oh yeah, those are just two bros in a bromance who love to bro it out.
6. "Sick." Ok, maybe we didn't invent this one, but boy did we embrace it. Contrary to Merriam Webster, sick doesn't mean under the weather or not feeling well. Oh no. Sick refers to things that are awesome. Really awesome. So awesome that they make you physically ill? Maybe. A really good movie, a sweet costume, or a performance can be sick.
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