Do you say “dog” or “dawg” and what is the difference between the two because they sound same? According to parents, children talk in “slang,” meaning that we don’t use words as they should be used or not in the right context. As the speakers of this “language”we do not feel the same way because we speak that way everyday and to us we are using it correctly. When some think of slang, the first thing that comes to mind is someone saying, “Yo, what up dawg.” This is the typical phrase used to describe the incorrect use of words, they always use the example how people call each other “dawgs” as term of friendship when the dictionary definition of the word “dog” is a domesticated animal related to wolves and foxes. If that’s the case then wouldn’t adults be using slang when they refer to their feet as“dogs” or call someone a “lucky dog?”

Other words that get questioned are “fam” and “thirsty.” Although “fam” is short for family, it’s used when talking to friends or family to show the close relationship. Everyone has seen a thirsty person, though they might not realize it. At some point in time you have seen someone who looked desperate for attention and even affection especially from the opposite gender. In the movie,“Rock Around the Clock,” which is about Bill Haley and the comets and their rise to fame, the female booking agent would be an example of someone who is thirsty because she so determined to have the manager as hers. It’s easy to make the connection, thirsty for a drink and thirsty for attention, though whenever someone says this adults say that they saw the same person constantly drinking, so it’s not possible for them to be “thirsty.”

Sounds simple now, but remember this is a “language” and some words in a language have several meanings. For example, the word “bomb” is not only talking about the explosive that is used in a war or demanding money from a company. It’s also used to talk about failing something, “I bombed my test,” or to describe something that’s really good, “that lasagna was bomb!”

Phrases can be easily confused and misinterpreted or used in the wrong context. Here’s an example from my personal experience, one day my brother was playing a hockey game, he did a tight juke move; he was so happy he shouted, “Oh, gave him the deke!”My mom and grandma thought he said something completely different. My brother had a lot of explaining to do about that one. There’s a video on YouTube about how Jason Terry is explaining what the team did in order to get ahead in the series, but his words ended up sounding very wrong. Here’s what he said: “All series long, we’ve been able to penetrate their bigs, get deep, suck the D in,”so you can see how he was misunderstood by a lot of people.

To be honest, I don’t think the way this generation communicates is a problem because there had to be some way that words came into our everyday language. Our founding fathers didn’t create every word we say and put it in a dictionary, allowing us to only use those words.

The problem is when adults try to use the same words as young people, especially when the use the terms out of context. When a person wants to keep something a secret, they’ll say, “keep it on the dl,” but I’ve heard my mom say, “Oh no! Low key I forgot to go to the bank. Don’t tell dad.” Low Key is a filler phrase not a secret, basically a waste of breath.

A common question among the younger generation is “why are they doing this?”That’s a good question. Why do adults answer calls with “what’s up?” Do they not remember the times when there were popular “slang” words and adults would use them? Do they not remember the awkwardness of that? All I’m saying is leave the modern “slang” to the generation it belongs to and don’t try to decipher it, especially if you don’t understand the meaning of the words.