28 Ridiculous Teen Slang Phrases

Posted by Rebecca Burstein on August 26, 2014, Updated by Lydia Hrycko on January 24, 2017

Ever feel like kids these days are speaking a different language? Us too, so we did a little digging to help decode the latest teen slang.

Are we missing any phrases from this list? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

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Tried

What it means: Someone is trying your patience or coming for you.

How it’s used: “She tried me, but I shot that nonsense down.”

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Goals

What it means: Basically the same as the regular definition, but used as an adjective.

How it’s used: “Ugh, did you see her body? She’s definitely goals.”

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Salty

What it means: To be bitter; angry.

How it’s used: “How are you feeling about your breakup?” “Oh, I’m definitely still salty about it.”

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Woke

What it means: The opposite of ignorance. To be knowledgeable and aware of a subject.

How it’s used: “I feel so woke after watching that Netflix documentary on gun violence in America.”

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Thirsty

What it means: Acting desperate, especially towards sexual partners.

How it’s used: “I can’t go to that club anymore, the guys there are way too thirsty.”

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Goat

What it means: The Greatest Of All Time.

How it’s used: “Imma let you finish, but Beyonce’s still the Goat.”

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Taking Ls

What it means: To take a loss.

How it’s used: “Tony’s been having such a bad week. He's taking Ls all over the place.”

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Petty

What it means: An immature overreaction.

How it’s used: “I was going to let it go, but I’m petty so I burned all his clothes.”

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Aesthetic

What it means: A person's look or personal brand, especially on social media.

How it's used: "OMG, I love your Instagram aesthetic!"

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Plug

What it means: A celebrity's shameless endorsement on social media.

How it's used: "Did you see Kylie's new plug on Instagram? Yeah, Fit Tea again."

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Shade

What it means: To send a nasty look someone's way or diss them subtlety.

How it's used: "OMG. Look. LOOK! Miley Cyrus is totally throwing shade at Taylor Swift right now!"

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Sus

What it means: The short form for the word "suspect", used to describe someone untrustworthy.

How it's used: "She texted me that she can't make it but her excuse is sus af."

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Bae

What it means: Your person. The one who comes Before Anyone Else, or your babe/baby.

How it's used: "Love you bae."

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Yaaas

What it means: Because "yes" is so boring as is, teens have turned the "E" into an "A" (and multiplied the word length by 10) to add emphasis/excitement. This one can only be written out in caps lock, obviously, to show full levels of joy.

How it's used: "Beyonce may perform at the Super Bowl AGAIN?! YAAAAASSSS!"

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Ship

What it means: To back a romantic relationship between two people, often TV characters (that may or may not be dating) or celebrities. Endorsers of the relationship may call themselves "relationshippers" or "shippers" for short.

How it's used: "I ship Beyonce and Jay-Z so much, they can't get divorced!"

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OTP

What it means: One True Pairing. Used most often to describe fictional characters.

How it's used: "Cory and Topanga are the OTP of OTPs."

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Turn Up

What it means: To get ready to party/let loose/go wild.

How it's used: "My house. Tonight. We gonna turn up!"

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Turnt

What it means: Once you're out and partying, likely under the influence, you've entered the past tense of turned up, AKA turnt.

How it's used: "What happened last night at Becky's party? I was so turnt."

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WCW

What it means: Woman Crush Wednesday. Used as a weekly hashtag on social media, often next to a sexy photo of that week's crush.

How it's used: "My #WCW is J.Lo. Just look at that bod! Don't care what anyone says."

20 / 28

MCM

What it means: Because men deserve some love too, Man Crush Monday is the same idea as WCW, but it occurs every Monday.

How it's used: "Ryan Gosling holding a PUPPY? #MCM"

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Basic B*tch

What it means: A plain, boring, unoriginal person.

How it's used: "Um, why would we go shopping THERE? Only basic b*tches wear that."

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Dat/Dis/Doe

What it means: Why say that, this or though when you could say dat, dis or doe? Yup, we're asking ourselves the same thing.

How it's used: "Dat [insert noun of choice] doe!"

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Low Key

What it means: When you're trying to keep something on the down low.

How it's used: "Low key, did you hear the rumour? Low key doe."

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TBT

What it means: Throwback Thursday. It began on social media as a hashtag that often accompanied an old photo, but TBT can now be used (gasp!) anytime, on any day, to reminisce.

How it's used: "TBT to that time we only used TBT on Thursdays. LOL."

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BB

What it means: Baby. Most often used at the end of a sentence online or via text.

How it's used: [After receiving a selfie from a friend] "Love your new shoes, bb."

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OOTD

What it means: Outfit of the Day. Used to show one's online followers or friends that day's outfit, often with an image that details where each item was bought.

How it's used: "Here's my OOTD! Tap the photo for store info."

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Ratchet

What it means: A nasty term for someone who is extremely annoying, gross or a hot mess. And that's putting it lightly.

How it's used: "Ugh, look at her over there. She's so ratchet."

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Dead

What it means: Not to be taken literally. This means when you are done with something.

How it's used: "I'm literally slayed by your outfit. Like, I'm dead."