Have You Seen This? Newscasters’ awkward take on youth slang

Editor's note: This is part one in a two-part series about the mystery that will always be youth slang.NEXT GEN — Kids these days, am I right?

That phrase has been spoken in may variations as long as there has been a next generation. This includes, but is not limited to, exclamations of deep concern about clothing, music and the volume of said music, and the ubiquitous use of slang.

Whether you grew up saying “That’s the bee’s knees,” or “Far out, man,” or “He’s all that and a bag of chips,” your sociolect among your friends definitely confused and likely angered someone of an older generation.

But the thing about slang is that it’s part of a specific-speaking community that help them bond and connect. Think of it as the business jargon of teens: They are communicating as a group with a shorthand outsiders may not understand just as much as a career professional is communicating as a group with shorthand outsiders don’t understand. For example: I market a QMS that helps companies comply with GFSI, FSMA, BRC and other regulatory and standard bodies. See?

Maybe older generations get angry at new slang because it’s hard to feel like an outsider, and that you’re not in on the important deets, (excuse me). And maybe that’s why parents and many adults try to understand and adopt slang of youths, no matter how much it drives kids crazy.

And that’s exactly what’s happening in this spectacularly awkward video from a group of kind-hearted newscasters in Toledo. They are doing their best to be supportive and encouraging to kids who are taking standardized tests. They are trying so hard to communicate using youth slang that it’s adorable and even heartwarming, but the ultimate result is ... difficult. (And hilarious.) Bless their hearts.

Tune in tomorrow for in part two this installment, where we (sort of) get some insight into the definitions of some of today’s youth slang.

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