You’ve probably noticed that most kids and teenagers talk in a way that sounds like English, but somehow also doesn’t sound like it. Gen Z already had its own style of communicating. However, Gen Alpha has taken slang and memes to make a kind of English that’s difficult for anyone older to follow. Why is it so hard to translate? And what does their slang mean? Let’s find out.
What counts as Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang right now
Let’s quickly run through who’s who before we try to understand their language. There’s no strict definition for each generation, but the term “Gen Z” usually covers people born from the late ’90s to approximately 2010. Gen Alpha is anyone who was born after that.
While the two generations grew up at different times, both of them grew up online. Most people in Gen Alpha have been using TikTok and YouTube Shorts practically since they started preschool, meaning their generation’s use of slang relies on quick clips and comment jokes. Their everyday words come from short videos and creators who repeat the same lines.
It’s part of the reason why phrases like “rizz” (for someone with charm) and “mid” (so-so) have become part of normal conversation for these generations. Half the time, they’ll use these terms together, so you might see something like “his rizz is mid fr.” It makes perfect sense to kids who hear it all day.
Meme phrases with almost no literal meaning
One of the main reasons that older generations are confused by younger people’s language is that a lot of their slang doesn’t start as a word at all. Rather, their language usually emerges from memes, viral video clips, or weird song lines. Sometimes, it might simply be a short clip of something a character says in a TV show, and it eventually becomes an in-joke.
Take things like “skibidi toilet,” for example. It’s one of those nonsense-y lines from TikTok that kids use as their own language. Sometimes, they’ll use such phrases as reactions, and sometimes, they do so just to be silly. The words aren’t connected to anything logical, so you’ll understand the terms only if you saw the original video and maybe the remixes of it.
Most adults expect to hear regular English, but meme-based slang often relies more on visual cues. When you don’t see the original video, the meme’s meaning becomes practically invisible.
Platform-specific memes and sound-based slang
Some slang only makes sense when you’re on the exact same platform as the kids who use it. TikTok and YouTube Shorts help to create a lot of Gen Alpha expressions because sounds repeat nonstop. Eventually, kids start quoting the sounds or lines that they’ve heard directly in conversation.
What makes these lines so hard to understand is the fact that the meaning doesn’t come from the words themselves. It’s in sound or dance, the timing or the trend. As soon as the audio goes viral, the phrase could become a response for young people to use for practically anything. But adults who never saw the clip don’t understand it.
Text slang
Another thing that gets confusing for older adults is the fact that Gen Z and Gen Alpha tend to shorten messages much more than older adults are used to. They’ll reduce words and ignore grammar rules while also using acronyms that include a lot of meaning in just a few letters. You can see this in examples like “FR” (for real), “ONG” (on God).
Some expressions look normal but work differently, such as “it’s giving…”, a phrase that works to describe a general feeling more than a literal verb. Adults sometimes try to correct younger people, thinking they’re typos, without realizing they’re intentional.
Kids use them because they’re faster. They use them because everyone in their group already knows exactly what each shortcut stands for. It’s this sort of shared context that older readers usually don’t have.
Private codes and “inside” language across generations
But that’s not all. A lot of young people use slang partly because it marks who’s in their circle, and they’ll talk differently with friends than with parents or teachers. Some of the terms that they use are ones that never appear in school or family conversations. They’ll use such phrases as a form of belonging.
You could try looking up some of the language. However, the definitions usually only tell you half the story, as the full meaning depends on the platform and the trend. You need to be part of the community to understand the language.
Emojis and symbols with age gaps in meaning
What could be so difficult to understand with emojis? It turns out, quite a lot. They’re one of the biggest sources of mixed messages between generations, especially since younger people use emojis as tone markers or slang. They don’t necessarily view them as facial expressions. For example, the skull emoji 💀 usually means “I’m laughing so hard I can’t breathe.”
However, adults often go with the literal reading, so that a text meant to be playful may come across as alarming instead. Different age groups consistently interpret symbols differently, even when they’re shown the same emoji.