Sick is the New Cool
Over the holidays I learned that my neighborhood is sick. Seriously. I kept hearing "This is sick" about everything. Having a fourteen year old brother is not only enlightening, but it's pretty cool.
Cool, by the way, is still an "in" word.
For those of you who write YA or MG, you might find these words interesting. Straight from Orange County, California, below is the list my wonderful brother gave me.
Define these words:
Boss
Beast
Gnarly (yeah, it's still in and I heard him and my dad use it fluently)
Bro
Bra
Steezy
Sic Thizz (yes, that's how it's spelled)
Have you heard any of these words? I think some of you have posted your kids' slang before. How do you feel about slang in fiction? Is the slang you use still cool? Or are you hanging on to outdated slang because it's groovy?
Cool, by the way, is still an "in" word.
For those of you who write YA or MG, you might find these words interesting. Straight from Orange County, California, below is the list my wonderful brother gave me.
Define these words:
Boss
Beast
Gnarly (yeah, it's still in and I heard him and my dad use it fluently)
Bro
Bra
Steezy
Sic Thizz (yes, that's how it's spelled)
Have you heard any of these words? I think some of you have posted your kids' slang before. How do you feel about slang in fiction? Is the slang you use still cool? Or are you hanging on to outdated slang because it's groovy?
Comments
Things are often "sic" ... and they are "cool" most of the time. Unfortunately, I am told I'm a geezer as well because lots of stuff is "awesome" in my world. :-)
Nothing has ever been "gnarly" though. Not even back in the dinosaur age when it was first the sic thing to say. That word always makes me think of the witch's hands in Snow White when she's fondling the apple.
Great list, Jessie. I have kids and WORK at a middle school, yet some of these words are foreign to me. I know boss, gnarly, bro and bra. And sick, of course. :-)
But beast, steezy, and sic thizz? Could you give me the definitions of those? I have a crit pal who writes YA and I'll bet she'd love to have this list. I'm sending it her way.
Thanks for the great post. BTW, you're sneaky. When I first read the title, I assumed you were talking about all the sickness you've been battling at your house lately. Including your computer virus. Heh. Shows what a geezer I am, right? ;-)
LOL Sandie! Well, he and my dad constantly use gnarly, but they're both surfers so maybe that's why? I'm jealous you know all this slang. LOL I didn't know most of these words. Heh.
Ha! You're not a geezer, Anita.
:-) After I did the title I thought it might be a little misleading, but I'm lazy so I left it. I can't believe you know these too! I'm really out of the loop. I don't know about steezy, but sic thizz might be another form of sic and beast means you're really good at something (I think) LOL
Schizzy, hizzy. I'm so sick!
~ Wendy
I think slang is great in adult fiction, too, if it's part of just one or two characters' personalities. It makes sense that maybe one person would speak that way, and that's an identifier, of sorts.
www.dianeestrella.com
Oh no! Diane, how horrible. But after you learned what it meant, did you feel better?
Janna, that's funny. :-) I love how you mention it being an identifier. I totally agree with you on that!
Wendy, I know what you mean. Also, it runs the risk of dating the book, esp. if those words go out of style. So it's tricky, but like Janna said, if it's an identifier then I think it would work pretty well. I hope you feel better soon. *sympathy hugs*
"Steezy"? That makes me want to sneeze saying it.
Happy weekend,
Karen
When you write, generally the story takes place in a fixed point of time. Like your setting: to make it work for you, what happens in the story should be unique to that place. For example, I couldn't write a story about skiing that takes place in Florida :-) That's over simplified, but makes the point. The time of the story is also something that is unique and part of the plot. You can't have someone call for help on a cell phone if your story takes place during WWII. Likewise, you'd expect a contemporary character to have access to a phone, and likely a cell phone as well.
In a few years, the cell phone in your story may be outdated. Technology changes rapidly. A "contemporary" novel written now will be an historical novel in 50-60 years. So the dialog should accurately reflect the time of the setting.
On the other hand, too much slang in dialog can be annoying :D
Anyway, thanks Tammy!
Bethany, me too. I use slang way more in commenting on blogs than I ever say in life.
Julie, LOL! When I had to ask my brother for some words, I felt ancient too. I've heard ill before, but it was slang for nasty (like someone's attitude). I always thought it was a southern thing.
Sarah, I wish I knew! I think I'm just going to have to google the definitions. LOL My brother might tell me, if I can catch him. Not sure...
Karen, I think so too. Some slang words seem to stick around longer than others. Cool, for example. But groovy and rad are out, which makes me wonder what words will be weird to say in a few years.
Now you have educated me on the others.
Used some Southern slang yesterday and my part-time assistant said, "I haven't heard that in AGES." BUT I don't remember what the word was. Sick! (the other way).
LOL
Jay Asher says he used audio tapes in "Thirteen Reasons Why"- a Bestselling YA- because they were outdated and therefore timeless- as in the protagonist had to seek out a player to hear them.
Something to think about. Cheers~
Jessie, I'm not "sick" either. LOL
Kristen!!! Hahaaa, I can't believe you've said it. LOL So when you're on the mission field and you see an awesome building or thing, you're like, "That's sic!". Heeheee.
Nancy P. thanks for sharing that! What a great idea.
I guess I'm dating myself with "neat" and "gross." I'm glad "cool" is still okay. :)
Blessings,
Susan
Frack??? LOL Shannon, what's that one mean?
Susan, no worries. I use gross all the time. We can be outdated together. *grin*
It's all OK with me, but I will voice an objection if they start with WTF or LMAO...
I don't think I've heard any of those words used around here, but I do believe slang has a place in writing by characterizing certain characters. I certainly wouldn't want to use it widely with more than one character in any given novel, but it sure can be helpful in defining a character that fits it.
The Fashion Queen is in college now. Whenever she comes home for a visit, though, I'm apt to learn new words, so I'm not totally clueless. However, I haven't heard all of the words on your list. She's here for the three-day weekend, so I'll have to run them by her. :)
But in books, when it's done right, I love it, probably because I turned out to be a slang-dork just like my mom.