old fart needs teen slang

Honestly? I'd just go with an intensifier that has lasted through the ages. "super," "so," "really," or whatever.

Those sorts of things go in and out of teenage speech so quickly, and are so highly, highly regionally dependent, and/or in/out group dependent that you could end up sending the wrong message by the time your book is in print.

Your subject line provided my morning chuckle! Thanks! I just enlisted teenaged help for this, and got "I'm sooooo bored." They write it that way, too, with multiple o's (while texting, etc.). From another teenage source I got "I'm really bored." By the way, when I say "super," my kids laugh at me. I agree about being careful not to use a term that's too trendy; considering the time that typically elapses between when you write the book and when it becomes available for purchase, the way cool might be mega uncool by the time someone reads it.

Alessandra Kelley said:

"Wicked" perhaps? "I'm wicked bored." "That's wicked cool."

But I have never been much in tune with slang.

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I've heard a lot of people use "wicked"

There's also "hella"

Swear to dog, if I hear the word epic ever again, I will kill (esp. in phrase, epic fail, mother)


Epically bored.

"Wicked" and "hella" both sound dated to me. They were popular in the late 90s/early 00s, I think?

Generic so/really/f*ing works best, IMO.

Make sure you write "like" every third or fourth word.

I agree with the suggestions to keep the expressions to stuff that's lasted through the ages. Any attempts to write slang that's in now are going to quickly date the book and if you've never heard of the word, it will probably sound forced. Also, as has been said, different groups of teens talk differently, just like different groups of adults talk differently.

Sites like this can be helpful:

The Online Slang Dictionary | Urban Thesaurus

I use this site and similar ones, but with care. It's easy to get something a little "off." Also, as has been noted above, slang changes all the time, so it is a good idea to use slang sparingly--just enough to give your dialogue flavor.

....Nobody uses super anymore?

I'm 21 and I use 'super' for everything.

I guess I'm just super lame ;-;

Alessandra Kelley said:

"Wicked" perhaps? "I'm wicked bored." "That's wicked cool."

But I have never been much in tune with slang.

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I hear people use "wicked" a lot -- but generally only around the Boston area (and, like, Maine). So I think that may be a regional thing.

My daughter would say "Mad" . . . . ."I'm mad bored"

It seems to mean extremely.

"Hey dad, that shirt you bought me is mad cool."

Al Stevens said:

Make sure you write "like" every third or fourth word.

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Oh dear God, no. Please just no.

But then again I still use "shiny" for everything. Thank you Firefly.

Gee whiz, gang, this thread is getting peachy keen.

Brisea said:

I hear people use "wicked" a lot -- but generally only around the Boston area (and, like, Maine). So I think that may be a regional thing.

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I too have only heard "wicked" used as an adverb around Boston. Wicked used as an adjective to describe something I've heard in most places, though (eg, "Dude, the concert was wicked")

Charles Farley said:

My daughter would say "Mad" . . . . ."I'm mad bored"

It seems to mean extremely.

"Hey dad, that shirt you bought me is mad cool."

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I had no idea they used this in Canada (assuming your location isn't lying ). As far as the USA, I've heard "mad" used a lot in the south, particularly North Carolina and South Carolina.

Similar to "mad" is "crazy." As in, "I'm crazy bored right now." I've heard this used all over.

I think "really," "crazy," and "soooo" would be your best bets. They're the least region specific in my experience.

navaa said:

....Nobody uses super anymore?

I'm 21 and I use 'super' for everything.

I guess I'm just super lame ;-;

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No, you're not lame!

After socially interacting with people today, instead of just work-interacting with people, I've realized that I use "super" a good deal as well. Also "totally".

Charles Farley said:

My daughter would say "Mad" . . . . ."I'm mad bored"

It seems to mean extremely.

"Hey dad, that shirt you bought me is mad cool."

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I was going to suggest that, then stopped and thought, "Maybe it's out of fashion already"!

I'm 20 years old.

"I'm damn bored."

Raventongue said:

I was going to suggest that, then stopped and thought, "Maybe it's out of fashion already"!

I'm 20 years old.

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Its soooooooo crazy true.

in a couple of months she wont be saying it anymore . . .

She still says "sick" though.

I just watched (any movie), it was sick, I'm gonna see it again . "

Go ahead, make shit up.

"I'm beyond bored."

"Me too. Wanna jaunt to the mall?" (lol dunno do kids go to the mall anymore?)

"Naw, it's bunko. We could go get bubble-tea. The kid working the counter is a monster smokestack."

"Assuredly."

I maybe am mondo full of shit, though. I wasn't hip even when I was young enough to be hip. Or, in the words of Grampa Simpson, "I used to be with it, but then they changed what it was. Now what I'm with isn't it, and what's it seems weird and scary."

"Hey man, gonna get your wheels out this weekend?"

"Yeah, I know this spot. Twelve hours from nothing. Gonna be a bunch of us there."

"Last time you said that, we ended up in a fuckin' ditch."

"It wasn't a ditch."

"'Keg."

"Fine, if you know of anything better, spill it."

"Totally" is probably the most over-used word among young people, along with "really". Especially the phrase "Like, really?"

"Epic" was ridiculously overused amongst my gamer friends, but not necessarily in less nerdy groups.

I know most of my friends through the computer, so that's some of the slang which seems to be universally used around North America.

ETA: I'm totally guilty of using "epic" in the slang sense frequently, lol.