Generation Alpha Slang: An Introduction

We all have something new to learn from Generation Alpha, or those born after 2010.

Among those of us born before 2000, we might wonder what that could be, because normally it would be we passing along our experience-based wisdom and knowledge to the younger generation.

But like all others before them, Generation A is adding original speech to the American vernacular, including expressions that may endure just as past slang has done.

Gen Alpha Slang: Maintaining the March of Words

Beyond our many innovations, the progress of human creativity, identity, and time can be marked and seen by our evolution of words. Not content to maintain one static vocabulary, we consistently change and add to our lexicon as each new generation comes of age.

Consider colloquialisms that were once popular among young Americans in the 1920s:

Word/Phrase	Meaning		Word	Meaning
applesauce	nonsense		hotsy-totsy	perfect
bank’s closed	no hugging or kissing		mazuma	money
cake-eater	spoiled rich person		tomato	attractive woman
duck soup	easy		zozzled	drunk

Such parlance would have indicated our familiarity with current culture 100 years ago. The same speech today could prompt chuckles, strange looks, or raised eyebrows.

If we fast-forward a few decades, we can see how younger people continued inventing colloquialisms to establish an identifying group voice in American English. You’ll notice some of this more-recent slang carries even into today.

1960s
Word/Phrase	Meaning		Word/Phrase	Meaning
far out	amazing, awesome		pad	place, residence
groovy	pleasing, interesting		sponge	to live off someone else
jet	to leave quickly		square	old-fashioned, not “with it”

1980s
Word/Phrase	Meaning		Word/Phrase	Meaning
big time	“yes!”		ditz	scatterbrained
bogus	bad, undesirable		for sure	certainly, definitely
choice	high-quality, appealing		rad(ical)	very impressive

2000s
Word/Phrase	Meaning		Word/Phrase	Meaning
bling	shiny items on clothing		peeps	people
chillax	to chill and relax at once		sketchy	suspect, not trustworthy
noob	novice, beginner		wassup	“how are you?”

Gen Alpha Slang: Signs of the Times

Each generation’s slang is influenced by distinctive traits of its era. Born and raised entirely in the digital age, Generation Alpha has been shaped by factors such as gaming, virtual reality, social media, and internet culture, as well as expressions and outlooks they’ve inherited from their Gen Z predecessors (born 1997–2010).

They spend significant time on platforms such as Roblox, TikTok, YouTube, and Instagram. They have further spurred the rise of “influencer” as a viable and even lucrative occupation. They have been growing up with unprecedented AI and chatbot technology.

With their phones as constant companions, they correspond greatly through text and its clipped or abbreviated forms of expression. Because of technology’s global access, Generation Alpha also has vast exposure to cultures and people all over the planet.

The following list is but a sample of the words and phrases that have emerged from Generation Alpha as it lives, observes, and interprets the world within its chapter of the twenty-first century.

Word/Phrase	Meaning
aura/negative aura	up or down status of charm or attraction
bet	agreement: “for sure,” “I’m in”
bop	catchy, such as a song
bruh	bro, brother, dude
cap	a lie, falsehood
cheugy	outdated, unfashionable
cringe	not flattering, embarrassing
delulu	delusional
fanum tax	stealing food from a friend
fire	really cool or impressive
flex	to boast or show off
ghosting	ceasing of communication
lit	amazing, impressive
mewing	to work on strengthening the jawline; also “looking good”
mog	to be notably more attractive
Ohio	odd, strange, weird
rizz	magnetism, charisma
salty	bitter, resentful, irritated
savage	daring, bold
sigma	popular, dominant, self-sufficient person
simp	milquetoast, pushover
skibidi	good, bad, cool
suss	suspicious
yeet	excited, energized; to throw something with force
zaddy	an attractive man with swagger

Examples

The concert? We’ll score the tickets tonight—bet!

Bruh, can you at least save me a few Milk Duds?

Sasha told Heather my fluorescent-pink leggings look cheugy.

Brady is flexing his designer backpack again.

Damon was texting with Brianna all week, but she’s ghosting him now.

Jameson must think he’s a GQ model, because if he keeps mewing like that he’ll lock his jaw.

Your favorite influencer said that jacket has rizz, but it’s a little Ohio for me.

Everyone agrees that Keenan is the sigma male of the debate team.

Don’t be such a simp! At least wait for Simone to call you back before you give her that bracelet.

Your band’s new song is bop!

Pop Quiz

Let’s have fun by testing your intuition for present-day slang. What does each Gen Alpha word mean?

1. Gyatt
a. Get out of here
b. Say what?
c. That person’s attractive!

2. Bussin’
a. Really good
b. On the way
c. Don’t have a car

3. Zang
a. Spicy
b. Dang
c. Stylish

4. Tea
a. Agreement with a condition
b. Any cold refresher
c. Gossip

5. Dog water
a. Neither really good nor really bad
b. Spray from someone drying off
c. Bad-tasting beverage

 

Pop Quiz Answers

1. c. That person’s attractive!

2. a. Really good

3. b. Dang

4. c. Gossip

5. a. Neither really good nor really bad

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