- An Ohio high school teacher has compiled a list of 100 teen slang terms to know in 2025.
- Popular slang words and terms being utilized by teens in 2025 include "touch grass," "ate that" and "gas."
- While often derided, researchers argue that using slang can benefit young people as they develop language and social skills.
Here are a few “foreign language” phrases you might soon be hearing in the halls of Utah’s middle schools and high schools:
“J’aime bien tes baskets!’
Translation from French to English: “I like your sneakers!”
“A dónde vamos a almorzar?”
That’s Spanish, of course, for “So where are we going for lunch?”
And you might be reaching for your translator app while eavesdropping on this linguistic exchange of American teen slang:
Teen 1: “I’m feinin’ over that new Netflix show — it’s my Roman Empire.”
Teen 2: “Nah … it’s kinda mid.”
While once popular (read: 2024) teen slang terms such as “slay” and “skibidi” are quickly becoming, well, “cringe” — a fresh repertoire of slang words and phrases will be accompanying Utah kids as they return to school in the coming days.
Teen lexicon is always evolving — and it can flummox even the most slang-savvy Gen X or millennial parents and teachers.
But as Henry David Thoreau is attributed with saying, “It is too late to be studying Hebrew; it is more important to understand even the slang of today.”
So, a “back-to-school teen slang/2025” primer is in order.
Earlier this year, Brooke Naumoff, a high school English teacher in Ohio, compiled a list of 100 teen slang terms to know in 2025 — calling it an “essential guide” for teachers and parents.
Naumoff divided her “straight fire” — sorry — slang list into four categories: general teen slang; teen slang for arguments; relationship teen slang; and, finally, teen slang acronyms.
Is something ‘bussin’’ — or just ‘meh’?
According to Naumoff, a survey of 2025 teen slang might start with the term “bussin’” — which means “very good” and usually refers to food.
Example: “Chick-fil-A’s honey-roasted barbecue sauce is bussin.”
“Bussin’” also has a slang cousin: “smacks”
Example: “Kendrick Lamar’s new video smacks.”
There are several other slang terms of affirmation and approval, including “gas,” “straight fire,” and “baddie” — which, of course, means good, not bad.
Meanwhile, several 2025 teen colloquialisms are decidedly clever.
After hearing slang terms such as “Roman Empire,” “aura points” or “winter arc,” Thoreau himself may have exclaimed: “ate that!”
For the record, “Roman Empire” is what one spends a significant amount of time thinking about. “Aura points” is a playful way to measure someone’s “coolness.”
And “winter arc” signals a period of time when a person tries to become one’s best self.
Example: “After six months of lifting in the gym, I’ll be hitting my winter arc.”
No surprise, there are plenty of slang options in 2025 to express dissatisfaction or disgust with something or someone.
For example, a “pick-me girl” is a young woman who constantly wants sympathy or attention.
While “glazing” is overhyping something: “Dude, quit glazing LeBron — he’ll never be Jordan.”
Show me ‘receipts’ — or ‘touch grass’
Naumoff’s slang research reveals that today’s teen rhetoric also includes flexible argument tools.
Need to remind some that they’re spending too much time online and need to reconnect with reality?
Just tell ’em to “touch grass.”
And if anyone doubts your claims, then “show them receipts.”
Meanwhile, a person’s suspicious behavior might prompt this terse, three-letter label: “Sus.”
Example: “Mike has no job, but he just bought a new car. Seems sus.”
Today’s teen slang also uses a trio of flag colors to classify romantic relationship characteristics: “red flag,” “green flag,” and, finally, the more nuanced “beige flag.”
Don’t rush to ‘side-eye’ slang
Today’s slang may not appeal to many older listeners. And it’s always wise for anyone old enough to legally rent a car to use teen slang with discretion.
But be slow to outright condemn it.
Recent research indicates that using slang comes with measurable benefits for young people, according to a National Geographic report.
A child’s grasp of evolving slang terms can lead to improvements in reading comprehension, persuasive writing, lie detection and empathy.
“There’s no one right way or wrong way to use language,” Christine Mallinson, a linguist at the University of Maryland, told National Geographic. “There are only different norms and conventions.”
Plus, the report added, slang can be inventive and rich in metaphor and imagery.
After all, is there a more perfect way to describe a state of hunger-caused grumpiness than “hangry?”