A young indie artist has riled up Millennials after revealing the Generation Z equivalent to popular phrases she claimed are used by the older generation.
Allegra Miles, a 21-year-old singer/songwriter who has amassed a significant online following, has done a public service by explaining the new phrases that have replaced the ones that were popularised by people aged between 28 and 43.
There’s just one problem: Millennials aren’t convinced they came up with the phrases she mentions in the video.
In a TikTok that has amassed over 100,000 views, she said that while Millennials with their high-waisted jeans liked to say YOLO, aka you only live once, Generation Z has replaced it with the phrase “f**k it, we ball”.
Ms Miles made the big call and said, slay is actually a Millennial phrase, and Generation Z use the word “eat” or “ate” instead.
So if someone is wearing a great outfit now, Gen Zers in baggy pants and slogan T-shirts say they “ate” instead of “slayed”.
She claimed that saying someone has “game” when flirting is very Millennial language. Now, you would describe them as someone with “rizz”. If you’re confused about what rizz means, first, you’re old, and second, rizz is short for charisma.
Ms Miles said that instead of saying something is “on point” which means exactly right or is often used when someone is “on their game”, now the young people describe that as being “locked in”.
She said that the words aren’t always perfectly swapped but have the “same energy” and a similar meaning.
Ms Miles also declared that the phrase “type beat” is fast replacing the word “vibe”. So, for instance, Millennials might say a restaurant had a very “intimate vibe”, but a Gen Zer would describe a dining experience as a “chill, warm, ambient type beat”.
The Gen Zer added that she doesn’t think her generation’s slang is better than Millennial slang, but she just wanted to point out how the language is changing.
“I like all these terms. I’m not saying one is better than the other,” she said.
Interestingly, plenty of Millennials commented on the video to declare they had never used many of those phrases in the first place and felt quite misrepresented.
“Nah … I’m 33 and never used those terms,” one commented, with plenty of other Millennials responding with a similar critique.
“Millennials never give that energy,” another claimed.
“The only Millennials I’ve ever heard use ‘slay’ are those who learned it from Gen Z.”
“Maybe the younger Millennials? I’ve never used any of these.”
“No, Millennials don’t say slay; that’s you guys.”
“I’m a Millennial therapist who sees many Gen Z clients. I can confidently say that Gen Z uses Slay 10x more than Millennials ever have.”