(Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty Images)
Photo by Stephen Brashear/Getty ImagesAre you constantly confused by what your kids or other young people are talking about? Sometimes it might feel like they’re speaking a different language, and they kind of are, because they use a lot of slang words that sound totally foreign to us. But Amazon Alexa is here to help, thanks to a new vocabulary update that will help older users learn the slang of the youth.
The new feature, “Alexa talk Gen Z to me,” gives definitions and examples of 20 popular words used by the generation The Mirror says. According to Amazon’s research, 83% of young people realize that their elders are clueless about what they’re talking about, and 35% of them say it’s cringe for an older person to misuse their slang. But don’t count older generations out, as 56% of non-Gen Zers say they’re eager to learn the new terms.
For those that want to understand what the teens, tweens and twentysomethings are talking about, here’s some of the slang that Alexa will now be able to explain:
- Lowkey — “something subtle”
- It’s giving — “the tone something emulates”
- Ick — “something cringeworthy”
- Slay — “to show off with pride”
- Rizz — “to possess swagger or charisma”
- The math is mathing — “something makes logical sense”
- Sus — “short for suspicious”
- Ate — “a showing of admiration for someone consuming success”
- Hot Girl Summer — “an encouragement to unapologetically be yourself and thrive”
- Cap — “to lie”
- Slaps — “to describe something as being a hit”
- Fam — “short for family, similar to ‘bro’”
- Drip — “to be stylish”
- Airing — “to ignore”
- In your XXX era — “describing chronic emotions or preferences a person has”
- Mother — “a female status symbol”
Thankfully my 11 year old son keeps me updated on these slang terms!
Parents Are Naming Their Kids After ‘Spider-Man’ and ‘Encanto’ Characters
Parents get inspiration for baby names from the world around them. Sure, you can go the traditional route or come up with a unique name totally on your own. But pop culture, current events and hit shows and movies have made certain names more popular. BabyCenter's baby naming experts analyzed the names of more than 400,000 babies born to BabyCenter parents in 2022. Following the COVID-19 pandemic, new parents' outlook on the world seems to be more positive with utopian names like Miracle, Alora (which means "dreamer") and Destiny being on the rise. That's also true of celestial names like Nova ("star"), Aurora (a nod to the northern lights) and Lyla ("night beauty"). This year, nature-inspired baby names associated with flowers, trees, and animals are all on the rise like Meadow (up 87 spots), Iris (up 24 spots), Juniper (up 40 spots) and Ivy (up 11 spots). On the other hand, there was a decline in names associated with celebrities who made headlines for all the wrong reasons last year like Will, Jada, Chris, Amber, Johnny, Elon, and Kanye.
BabyCenter also looked into some of the year's biggest releases from Disney and Marvel to see how their cult-like following has impacted parents’ decisions to name their children. It turns out, parents loved Spider-Man: No Way Home and the Oscar-winning animated movie Encanto as the inspiration behind their baby names. Following the release of both movies late last year, there was a sharp spike in babies registered with names of popular characters from the films.
See below the Spider-Man and Encanto character names that have soared in popularity in 2022:
Mirabel
The lead character’s name, Mirabel, catapulted up 500 spots.
Isabela
Up 134 spots.
Alma
Up 85 spots.
Julieta
Up 93 spots.
Bruno
Even the name Bruno, which had been falling in popularity since 2016, rebounded 50 spots since the film’s catchy song “We Don't Talk About Bruno" became a viral sensation. It turns out that people do talk about Bruno!
Zendaya
The name "Zendaya" jumped up 375 spots this year and is now in the top 500. The name has been slowly rising since this beloved star came onto the scene in 2012, but it sharply spiked in 2022 with the release of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which brought a steady stream of press coverage for the movie and Zendaya’s relationship with her co-star and own personal Spider-Man, Tom Holland.
Parker
Up 15 spots.
May
Up 126 spots.
Mary Jane
Up 1,294 spots.
Michelle
Up 47 spots.
Ned
Up 532 spots.
Otto
Up 65 spots.
