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The US is full of people using words they don't know the meaning of –– and not just terms like "Critical Race Theory."
According to a new survey, 80% of Americans admit they use modern lingo, but half of them say they don't know what some of those words mean. The survey was conducted by Preply, an online language learning platform, and asked nearly 2,000 American adults what "slang" words they use in their daily conversations.
On the top of the list is a common phrase used to describe a modern dating tactic –– "ghosted" followed by "salty," "on point," "woke," and "GOAT."
"Extra," "low-key," "catfish," "savage," and "thirsty," round out the top 10 words most Americans use but at least 50% say they don't know the meaning. So why use them in the first place?
On top of that, some slang words are described as "more annoying" by people in the survey –– which begs the question, perhaps you're annoyed because the words don't belong to you.
"Bye, Felicia," "on fleek," "yas," and "periodt," are just a few of the slang words parents in the survey say are "annoying" –– all of which can be traced back directly to Black culture and Black LGBTQ culture.
Some experts told USA Today that people might not want to feel left out of today's top terms, but within this list is a blaring trend: the colonization of African American Vernacular English (AAVE).
The use of AAVE by non-speakers is a phenomenon experts say ignores Black culture's influence particularly on social media where a lot of these terms are captured and repurposed by non-speakers of AAVE.
So, while it is widely used, let's not forget the origins and actual linguistic functions behind some of these terms. And that's on period.
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