Learn to speak Gen-Alpha

You’ll know it when you hear them. These Generation Alphas that inhabit my classroom have a language all their own.

Who are Gen Alphas?

Generation Alphas are sometimes called Screenagers or Generation Glass because they’re so attached to their devices.  The mere mention of taking their phones away from them can cause mass hysteria. One report claims that students aged 8-12 spend almost 5 hours on their screens excluding the time they spend doing schoolwork!  Thirteen to 18 year olds spend nearly 7 1/2 hours on their screens strictly for entertainment. So it’s no surprise that these screenagers have developed their own language and behaviors that are largely internet borne.

A primer on Gen Alpha Slang

I’m sure you’ve heard (and rolled your eyes) at most of these terms, but here’s a quick primer on what your students are actually saying to you:

ATE – Means that something is impressive or outstanding.

BASIC – Term to describe something that is mainstream or boring

BUSSIN’ – Something that is bussin’ is very good.

CAP – If a student tells you “No cap,” they mean they’re not lying.

CHEUGY – Cheugy things are outdated, used most often to describe clothes.

DRIP – Drip refers to someone’s look or style.

FANUM TAX – A social media influencer named Fanum started this term to indicate sharing your food with someone else, or stealing a french fry from someone else’s plate.

GOAT – References the “greatest of all time.” When one person gets beaten by someone else in a competition, they get “goated.” The goat emoji means the same thing.

GYAT – As an acronym for “Girl your a** thicc”, GYAT is meant as a compliment to admire a girl’s bottom.

IT’S GIVING – Gen Alphas use this to describes the vibes they’re getting from something.

LORE – Students asking for the lore means they want to know the story behind something.

MEW – Students trace their chins with their fingers. They call this mewing and it means to put your tongue on the roof of your mouth to make your jawline appear sharper.

OHIO – This term started with a trend of sharing strange images and captioning them “Only in Ohio.” Now, the term is used to mean anything weird.

PULL UP – When someone is going to pull up, they’re arriving where you are.

RATIO’D – When someone posts something dumb on social media, they may receive more replies than they do likes or shares. This is called being ratio’d.

RIZZ – This term is short for charisma and references a person with charm or attractiveness.

SIGMA – Originally, sigma means a person who gets it done without help, a lone wolf, but some Alphas use it to mean “the best.”

SKIBIDI TOILET – Rooted in a series of TikToks with singing human heads coming out of toilets, Skibidi Toilet is a punchline that kids repeat to get laughs.  It sometimes means that something is odd.

SUS – This term is short for “suspicious” and started with the game Among Us.

YEET – To yeet something means to throw it enthusiastically.

Now you know.

Although, to be honest, I kind of enjoyed being sigma and not knowing the lore behind why skibidi toilet was so sus.