“Medium” is an obvious example. As a word, I don’t think it counts as teen slang anymore; it’s too useful, and it’s so widely used now. In my son’s usage, anything that’s “medium” is basically average or a little below average. You can’t complain about it, but it doesn’t bring you joy. It’s often the result of refining market research to a level where it achieves lukewarm consumer acceptance. All Starbucks falls into the “medium” category. All airports do. It’s a brilliant, apt phrase for a world full of mild disappointment, where the corner bakery that did some things well and others badly has been steadily replaced by another “Le Pain Quotidien.”
“Glazed” has a similarly impressive precision. When my son describes something as “glazed,” he’s not exactly lying or exaggerating, but rather skewing judgment in a positive way. “Glazed” means to gild information. Sports commentary, for example, is 90 percent glaze. When Stephen A. Smith, a quintessential glazer, likens Anthony Edwards to Michael Jordan, the appropriate response might be, “The Ant’s glazing is crazy.” But glaze also perfectly describes how social media works: the world we encounter online is perpetually glaze, where everything takes on an artificially positive, unreal, not entirely trustworthy sheen.
Another meaningful word I learned from my son: “Sus” is an abbreviation of suspicious and questionable, describing a world so suspicious that it needs an adjective. “Cringe” is the perfect word to describe the uncomfortable performative sincerity that is so prevalent online. Young people need adjectives to describe this reality; they have become so commonplace.
But my favorite new slang word is “based.” It’s short for “based in fact” or “based in reality,” and is often used to express agreement when someone expresses a controversial opinion. If you say, “Canada should join the United States,” another person might respond, “based.” This is usually used in political topics, but it can also have broader social uses. “Luka Doncic should be the NBA MVP,” you might respond, “based.”
The word “based” can have a more malign connotation among some alt-rightists, as it implies allegiance to an opposing viewpoint. But to my ears, it sounds like a perfect, necessary word to describe the information chaos we live in. That it has come to pass as a compliment is a testament to the fact that kids like my son have grown up in an environment where misinformation, hype, and deception are rampant and exceptions stand out. For them, coming across something based in reality is rare enough to merit its own distinct acronym.
