On a college campus we are constantly surrounded by cliques, and people attempting to be cool by embracing the current pop culture trends. I truly have nothing against pop culture when its viewed within reason. I do have problems with it when it begins to have an affect on the way people speak, and when that affect is to dumb down the English language. As a general rule, trendy words and phrases take the original meaning of a word and completely change it. To be honest, many of these words and phrases and their uses just sound completely unintelligent. If that is what cool is now, I want nothing to do with it. Here are some trendy words that should be eliminated from everyday vocabulary right now:
1. "On Fleek"
Fleek originated as a “word” only two years ago. Merriam-Webster online notes that it developed on a Vine video to describe perfect eyebrows and quickly gained popularity from there. Remember when “on point” was the cool thing to say? Well, now we use “on fleek” instead. It is not even a real word, and it originated to describe eyebrows...but that kind of thing doesn't matter anymore, does it?
2. "Bae"
Technically, it originated, according to Urban Dictionary, as an abbreviation for “ Before Anyone Else.” Now, it is most commonly used as a term of endearment, such as sweetheart, babe, or love. Since its launch into pop culture, many people have come to discover that bae actually means “poop” in Danish. Poop, guys. You might want to think differently before using this word for your significant other again.
3. "Squad"
Squad is used to refer to your in group of friends...the people you are closest to. Look it up. This is definitely a stretch of the definition of the word. Not to mention, it is incredibly annoying and enhances the problem and idea of cliques.
4. "Netflix and Chill"
A code way of saying that you're hanging out and messing around with one another in a sexual way. I mean really, how loose can we get? How many phrases can we distort the true meaning of?
5. “AF”
AF stands for “As F**k.” Nowadays, this term is used in articles, memes, Instagram posts...just about everywhere on the internet. An example would be an video that is titled, “This dog chasing it's tail is funny AF.” According to About.com, this term is used to over emphasize or exaggerate something. But really, it is a fake meaning of the words created to sound trendy. Does anyone realize how unintelligent and just plain dumb it sounds to add AF to any and every situation?
