ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½

If a teen says something's 'phat' or describes a school classmate as 'rare', parents might think they mean big or unusual.

But in teenspeak, phat translates as 'great' and rare is 'unpleasant or ugly'.

So how has teen slang evolved? Tony Thorne, head of the language centre at King's College, London says: "Their language is very important to teenagers, because it's another kind of badge of identity.

It's all about saying as little as you can and meaning as much as you can.

A Gloucester teenager

"It's a way they can feel empowered. If they can use words that older people and outsiders can't understand it's a very important part of creating a kind of powerful, attractive, sophisticated identity.

"There's always been playground slang but it's really exploded only in the last 10 years or so.

"There is this sense that they are really in control of their own culture.

"They talk about bling bling (jewellery) and hench (strong, tough, a strong male) and these are all coming from black speech because it's the coolest speech in terms of music culture."

Communication

John, a 16-year-old from Gloucester, explains: "How you speak depends a bit on what kind of music you like - if you're into hiphop you'll be more influenced by American and say things like 'check it'."

His mate Del sums teenspeak up: "It's all about saying as little as you can and meaning as much as you can …"

So . . . one up from the range of grunts that teens usually employ to communicate with parents, an adult might think.

Even more confusing for parents is that the lingo isn't even the same from teen to teen.

'Rare' (see above) and 'rank' (a nasty taste or smell) are two of the commonly used words in 15-year-old Matt's vocabulary but he says: "If I said 'phat' my mates would just laugh at me, and I've never heard of 'hench'."

Joelle, 14 says "I know it's not PC but if something's really naff or crap me and my mates say 'oh that's so gay."

As Adolonics - a teenspeak web guide for parents - sums up: "Communication is hard enough without trying to figure out what type of English your teen is using."

Of course, even if an adult learns teenspeak they may very well get told: "Talk to the hand ..." or "Butt out".

And maybe it'll serve 'em right ...

Then there's the language of texting - CU L8R or Y R U L8 is all Greek to most parents.

»More about the joys of txt - the ultimate teen communication tool.

What teen talk or text phrases do you use or know? Tell us your views on this article or teen life in general and we'll publish them on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Gloucestershire.

ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½ Gloucestershire
London Road
Gloucester
GL1 1SW

Telephone (website only):
+44 (0)1452 308585

e-mail:
gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk