Despite working with teenagers every day, many teachers at Timpview are not well-versed in what is “hip with the kids”. To determine just how bad the cultural divide between teachers and students is, I interviewed some teachers about what they thought slang terms meant. In these interviews, teachers were told the term and were given the option to have it spelled and/or used in a sentence. They then had to give their best guess as to what the term meant. Some were surprisingly accurate–others were inspiringly bad.

Despite having two young adult children, Mrs. Van Orden did not know any of the slang terms. She answered the following:

“I” is for “interviewer”, “V” is for “Van Orden”.

I: “Can you tell me the definition of ‘Rizz’?” 

V: “‘Rizz?’ Can you spell it?”

I: “R-I-Z-Z.”

V: “Use it in a sentence.”

I: “Homie is performing cellular rizzperation.”

V: *a very confused pause* “…Activity. Rizz is you are performing some kind of activity.”

I: “What is the definition of ‘snacc’?”

V: “Oh I know that one. That means cute.”

I: “What does ‘bussin” mean?”

V: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Bussin’ bussin’.”

V: “That means you’re going places.”

I: “The definition of ‘thicc’?”

V: “Hot.”

I: “Fit.”

V: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Fit check.”

V: “…Coolness.”

I: “What is a ‘snap’?”

V: “OH I know this one. It’s that one social media deal.”

I: “What is the definition of ‘bop’?”

V: “Would you use it in a sentence?”

I: “This song is a bop.”

V: “A bop is a party. The bop is a party.”

I: “The definition of ‘fire’?”

V: “That means hot.”

I: “What does ‘thot’ mean? Spelled T-H-O-T.”

V: “Ummm…”

My friend: “Some people would call me this.”

V: “Scandalous!”

I: “Okay and the last one is ‘cracked’.”

V: “That means you’re high…from weed.”

Ms. Kartchner’s answers revolved around 90s MTV…

“I” is for “interviewer, “K” is for “Kartchner”.

I: “The first word is ‘shawty'”.

K: “Isn’t that like your girlfriend? It’s your significant other.”

I: “The next word is ‘slaps’.”

K: “That means something is really good.”

I: “What does ‘slaps’ mean?”

K: “That also means something is good.”

I: “What is ‘cake’?”

K: “I have no idea. Back in my day, that meant something was easy. Like it’s easy, it’s cake. Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Shawty got that cake.”

K: “Maybe that someone is hip? Like they’re hip, they’re happening, they’re cake.”

I: “Would you like to know the actual definition?”

K: “Sure.”

I: “It’s usually used to describe a woman. It’s similar to ‘thicc’. Like a woman who has really nice curves, she has cake.”

K: “Ah, yes. Comparing a woman’s butt to food.”

I: “Exactly. Okay, the next word is ‘drip’.”

K: “Drip means cool clothes and accessories.”

I: “What is the definition of ‘dank’?”

K: “Dank memes is something middle schoolers say. I don’t know. I think it means good memes.”

I: “What is ‘the ick’?”

K: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Oh wow, he seriously gives me the ick.”

K: “Someone who is creepy.”

I: “The next one is ‘go off’.”

K: “That means to lose it or to get mad.”

I: “The last one is ‘full-send’.”

K: “I’ve heard kids say that. It means 100% effort.”

Unsurprisingly, Mr. Chow’s middle school-age kids have taught him slang.

“I” is for “interviewer”, “C” is for “Chow”.

I: “What does ‘bussin” mean?”

C: “That means something tastes good. Or is cool. I don’t know I usually hear it about food.”

I: “What does ‘shawty’ mean?”

C: “That’s a good-looking female. Shawty is a girl you like.”

I: “‘Slaps’ is the next one.”

C: “That means something’s cool. I hear that one with food too.”

I: “What is a ‘bop’?”

C: “A bop is a good song.”

I: “Fire.”

C: “Something’s cool or good. I hear fire, slaps, and bussin’ and think of food.”

I: “The next one is ‘thot’, spelled T-H-O-T.”

C: “That’s like…a hoe…right? Hang on I need to describe like an adult. A thot is a female with loose morals. Can a boy be a thot too?”

I: “What is a ‘snap’?”

C: “I don’t know. It’s an exclamation, like ‘oh snap!'”

I: “Okay last one. What does ‘drip’ mean?”

C: “Drip means clothes, man. It means you look good.”

The choir director, Mr. Oliphant, had answers from the 1990s…

“I” is for “interviewer”, “O” is for “Oliphant”.

I: “The first phrase is ‘fumbled the bag’.”

O: “Oh wow. Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Wow, dude, you really fumbled the bag.”

O: “Drop the ball…’

I: “Do you want to know what it actually means?”

O: “Sure.”

I: “It means you messed up, specifically with someone you like. So let’s say you were on a date with a girl you really like and she was giving you all the right signals, but you did nothing. That would be you fumbling the bag.”

O: “So you’re calling the girl a bag?”

I: “No! It’s not like that! It’s your actions! You fumbled your actions.”

O: “Oh okay.”

I: “The next word is ‘pog'”.

O: “Little wooden or plastic chips.”

I: “You’re the second teacher to say that.”

O: “Yeah I played with pogs as a kid.”

I: “What does ‘full-send’ mean?”

O: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Full-send it.”

O: “That means go for it, all it, doing it all the way. Cause you don’t put it in your folder you actually hit send and you can’t take it back.”

I: “The next one is ‘the ick’.”

O: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “He seriously gives me the ick.”

O: “It means it creeps you out.”

I: “The next one is ‘bussin’.'”

O: “I’ve heard this one. It means awesome or something.”

I: “What is ‘rizz’?”

O: “Rizz means that something is really cool. ‘That’s the rizz!'”

I: “The next one is ‘ice’.”

O: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “Hey check out my new ice.”

O: “Hardened water. But new hardened water. Because old ice is just water.”

I: “What does ‘cap’ mean?”

O: “‘Cap’ is a hat of the baseball persuasion.”

I: “The next word is ‘dank’.”

O: “Dank is like a dungeon. It’s wet and dark. It’s dank.”

I: “Okay and the last one is ‘snatched'”.

O: “Can you use it in a sentence?”

I: “There are two ways to use this one. You could say, ‘Wow my wig is snatched’, or you could say, ‘Her waist is snatched’.”

O: “Snatched means taken.”

On average, our teachers do not understand a word we say. Their perception of us and our culture is completely off, and likely will continue to be so. But such is life. Our teachers’ generation was too hip for their parents, and the generation following ours will be much cooler than we ever were. Such is life, and it is impossible to remain “hip with the kids”.