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New Slang/ Idioms used among young ones in America


How long do you believe it would take for an English expression (especially idiomatic expressions) to be outdated? It seems that we are facing newly coined phrases and nouns every couple of years or faster than that here in America. This week, I would like to share some interesting expressions that are going viral today among young ones in the States.

  1.   lit: (adjective) cool, turned up, fun, or popping

  2.   to keep it 100: (phrase) to keep yourself real and true, to be honest and stick to the way you are, no matter what any one else thinks

  3.   trill: (adjective): true + real/ 100% honest

  4.   Gucci: (adjective) Not referring to the Italian brand name here. It means ‘good, fine, or ok’ . This is a slang term mostly used by people living in ghetto or slum.   e.g., What’s Gucci? = What’s poppin? Or You gucci? = How’re you doin’?

  5.   No new friends!: (phrase) the expression you throw out when you are bragging about your squad or dissing the friends who are not quite committed. This expression is used to show cohesiveness amongst friends and an aversion to new "fair weather friends".

  6.   Bible!: (phrase) This expression was often used by the Kardashian family, instead of "I swear" or "I promise" or "I am not joking"  in order to mean “the whole truth”

  7.   adulting: (gerund form of “to adult”) to do one or more of the duties and responsibilities expected of fully developed individuals (paying off that credit card debt, paying taxes or reporting tax report, or working through the summer instead of going on a vacation, etc). Exclusively used by those who adult less than 50% of the time

  8.   snatched: (adjective) perfect / nice/ sweet / on fleek / fashionable/

  9.   plug: (noun = verb) to self promote your social media and or merchandise

  10. jomo:(abbreviated phrase) the Joy of Missing Out  (ó fomo: the fear of missing out something great)



Now why don’t we fill in the following blanks with proper expressions given above?
1.   Jean would rather enjoy ________________ even though there’s a lot of fun parties or swirls around her on weekends.

2.   OMG!!!!!! I just saw Adam Levine at the restaurant!!!!! Straight up! You don’t believe me? Trust me! ________________

3.   Hans is working hard in this internship program all Summer long instead of going out on a vacation. Yup, he is practicing ____________________.

4.   Well, when Joanna saw Paula added the caption “___________________________” to her instagram photo of her friend group, she felt hurt inside. Joanna thought she was in Paula’s tight squad.

5.   A: How was Drew’s birthday party last night? Did you have fun?
B: Oh, yeah, it was _______!!! I had the time of my life there, meeting new friends.

6.   A: Charlie is such a down-to-earth kind of man. He never holds back anything whenever we have conversations. He truly keeps ___________________.
B: Yes, I agree with you. He is totally __________.

7.   Hey, you __________?  Yeah, I’m doing well.

8.   I’m sick and tired of her tweeting about her newly released album. Don’t wanna see her ____________ anymore.

9.   Wow~ Look at you!!! Your new haircut looks _______________!



<Answer Keys>
   1.  jomo
   2.  Bible!
   3.  adulting
   4.  No new friends
   5.  lit
   6.  it to 100
   trill
   7.  gucci
   8.  plug
   9.  snatched

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