Once upon a time, I was young.
I used phrases like “cool beans”, “guess what, chicken butt,” “da bomb,” “sweet,” and “that’s tight!”.

But somewhere along the way…sometime after highschool, and marriage, around the time our kids could start talking, I discovered that I really can’t use slang words any more.

Not only do I think they mean something different than they should, but even regular words from the dictionary seem to have new meanings that are completely foreign to me.

Exhibit A: “Politicking” means something completely different than “campaigning” these days. Should you find yourself having to promote an idea, use the latter term, as the first has certain connotations that can be perceived in a negative light.

Exhibit B: “Netflix and Chill” used to mean *literally* watching Netflix and chilling out. Having invited my kid brother to “Netflix and Chill” one afternoon, I discovered that it no longer means that (save yourself the burden of a google search here, folks) and is a phrase one should save only for their spouse.

Exhibit C: “He was the nice guy in the book.” Previous to this year, 2021, I always thought someone who was a “nice guy” meant exactly that. Contrary to my belief, it can also mean someone who is in fact *not* a nice guy.

Being a self-proclaimed word nerd- and really not yet in my forties, (yet realizing they’re not too far away)- I really do try to keep up, but I’ve come to realize that my modern vocabulary may need an update.

Indeed, having a home of children who are likely to establish their own phraseology in coming years, I need to decide to either get with it or turn in the slang card for good. I realize that urbandictionary is a thing, but frankly, my dear, it scares me.

Have you ever used a modern phrase incorrectly? Share in the comments 🙂