This adoption, in many cases, involves appropriation that ignores, obscures, or erases the terms’ origins and originators. From there, the creativity, appeal and just plain usefulness of these terms frequently leads to them being adopted by youth culture at large (including by white people and those who are not part of the communities where the terms originated), from where they may spread into the general population. These terms may be new to you, but it’s essential to remember that so many of the slang terms that seem suddenly brand new in the dominant, mainstream culture actually have origins and long histories of use in Black culture, the LGBTQ+ community, the drag community, and other marginalized groups and subcultures. The popularity of TikTok and other social media trends has only made it easier for new slang to take hold, and if you aren’t keeping up with the latest trends, you might be left scratching your head.
Every generation has its own unique slang words, and these terms seem to spring up faster than many people can keep up with.
Language is constantly evolving, but there’s one type of language that so often changes even faster than the rest: slang.
