Around the end of 2022, many new and old slang words had been cycling around throughout the vocabulary of people apart of Gen Z. An example of one of the new slang terms is “rizz”.
Of course, there are many other slang terms that are often used by the younger generations. There’s, of course, rizz, pop off, period, purrr, tea, it’s giving, slay, side-eye, out of pocket, dupe, ick, pick me, and so much more.
A few students as well as one of the younger teachers here at Redwood High School have been asked if they were familiar with any of these common slang terms. And as expected, they all were.
Nancy Mendoza, who teaches Math 3 and Math 2 honors here at Redwood says that her favorite slang term is pop-off. She says, “it’s just the one that stuck with me the most, so I think I’ve just gravitated toward it.”
Ms. Mendoza said that she thinks pop-off means “ cheering someone on.” She said that rizz is the most recent slang term that she has heard of.
Riley Yagle ‘24, says that her favorite slang term is either it’s giving or she ate. She says, “I like it because it’s actually really fun to say and it makes other people laugh.”
, says that her favorite slang term is side eye because “it’s just funny; it’s simple.” The way that she would define side eye is “when someone says something very stupid or like it’s just someone that you know or don’t like you’re just like ‘side eye’.”
Gabriela DeLaCruz, ‘24, says that left no crumbs would have to be her favorite slang term. It’s her favorite because she feels like “it’s an easier way to compliment someone with them understanding what it means.”
DeLaCruz thinks the slang term left no crumbs means “telling a person that they look good, that they really look good.”
Tino Zetino ‘26, says that side eye would have to be his favorite slang term. He says that side eye would have to be his favorite because he feels like “when someone does something wrong it’s an easy go-to.”
Zetino and Rachelle Araujo ‘24 would define the slang term by saying it’s “when you look at someone weird and either you don’t like them or they did something wrong.”
Makayla Morcos ‘24, says that her favorite slang term is low-key because she says that one a lot.
Low-key is Morcos’ favorite slang term because “it can be used in any context and it’s just easy to say.” She thinks low-key means “where [something is] not obvious.”
Natalie Enriquez
Natalie Enriquez, '24, is in her second year of writing for the Redwood Gigantea. Outside of journalism, she likes to pass time reading or listening to music. Natalie hopes to make her time, as well as others, at Redwood High School fun and memorable.
Tags: clubs & lifestyles, Gen Z, redwood gigantea, redwood high school, redwood journalism, redwood rangers, rhs, slang