Some people want to say that slang used to be better, but it’s really not. New slang is more beneficial to the way we speak and think now; it’s more natural and sensible to how quickly everything moves nowadays. Society texts in short paragraphs, posts TikToks, sends DMs, and group chats. Our language has evolved with it, and so has our slang.
New slang succeeds because it’s practical. A single word or phrase can convey an entire meaning. If you tell someone that something is “mid”, they know exactly what is being said without having to actually say it. New slang words aren’t just fads, they’re short versions for ideas and emotions that would take longer to describe in some other way.
People say new slang is lazy or meaningless, but that’s not true either. A lot of it comes from online culture, music, gaming, and different communities blending together. It’s creative and constantly changing, like house music becoming more profound than pop.
Slang isn’t supposed to stay the same forever. Language evolves. If it didn’t, we’d all still be walking around saying “far out” or “gnarly”, no one’s trying to bring that back. Fresh slang reflects how we think nowadays.
Most people employ sarcasm, irony, and “in” jokes daily, and slang allows us to. Whether it’s describing something as a “jump scare” in an ordinary scenario or a person being “the moment”, it’s more about the atmosphere it evokes and less about being honest. It’s a sense of humor that older slang can’t achieve.
New slang isn’t superior because it’s new, it’s superior because it resembles the speed of the internet, how we talk to each other, and the movement of culture. Old slang might be charming in films or throwbacks, but it doesn’t carry the same weight now. Language is designed to change and right now how we talk is doing just that.