Hey big! (Hi buddy !). Yes… today this is how teens can say hello to each other. But like all teenage words, when spoken by an adult, it doesn’t sound the same. To all generations, its codes and its language. No need for adults to try to learn, it is precisely to differentiate themselves from adults that adolescents love to use these terms, unknown to the dictionary.

Adolescence is a time of transition and construction. It is a time of deep rebellion against the established rules and the language is no exception. Parents sometimes worry about hearing a foreign language when their teenager talks to his buddies (his friends, his friends), but they will quickly see that this period will pass.

The teenager uses his intentionally obscure words for adults to stand out from his “old folks.” They thus have a secret dialect which allows them to separate their private life from their family relations. No possible intrusion of parents in their affairs, like their room, on which is plastered at best: no entry, at worst: a skull.

As Laurent Danon-Boileau explains in his article “Adolescence, how does language work there? », This language is part of a new identity, which allows him to relate to his generation. So music, films and series intended for them use the same language. It is for this reason that singer Aya Nakamura has been so successful. She invents and uses their language. Who does not know his title Djaja? He toured France. Just like “Mets ta cagoule” by Michael Youn a few years ago.

To assimilate the new codes, you have to immerse yourself in places where you can hear teenagers talking without them noticing it. Like an infiltrator. Like learning a new language, you have to hear it to pronounce it well. Neighborhood houses, basketball courts, leaving high school or college, an ear that lags on birthdays … And also television, programs, applications intended for adolescents give a good overview of the essential words to understand.

Without rolling our eyes and having the impression of having passed the other side of the barrier, that of the grandparents, we must recognize that these expressions require creativity and an interesting intellectual gymnastics to use them.

When the adolescent uses these words, while correctly assimilating the rules of the French language, he learns to play with words and sounds. Let’s not forget that rappers are linguistic game professionals. Great sick body, Orelsan and many others are virtuosos of phrasing in their field. We can use their texts to work on diction, pronunciation, rhythm, punctuation. Perhaps more motivating for teens than the classics.

Here are some expressions, which while listening to the radio, can easily be heard:

Bazarder: to get rid of something;

A gadji / a gadjo: a young lady ;

She is zinda : this girl has nothing for herself, neither physically nor mentally;

Y’a R : it is nothingness;

It’s Square : that’s great ! ;

 $It takes his life : it takes time, a sign of impatience;

Remains flexible, calm down, go down in a tone;

or DD : retail sales;

I am a cart : I am overbooked, time is running out;

Have the swagg: to have style, to be well dressed, to be well dressed;

Ken : make love.

The best and funniest thing is to ask them directly. Proud to show adults that for once they have a knowledge that their “ancestors” do not have, adolescents will easily lend themselves to the game of “that means what”. The meal taken together can be an opportunity to laugh at the expressions that question, and to compare with the old expressions that the parents used at the same age. Adolescents then feel heard, they can realize that their parents were also “young”.

But no need to speak like them. Using a few expressions of so many to make them laugh can bond, like a foreigner trying to speak the language of the country is always nice. But then, the adult must take his own codes because he does not belong to this generation and it is up to him to maintain the classic rules of the French language.