Slang. Just when you think you’ve caught up, your students—or in my case, my middle schooler—throw a curveball. The other day, my daughter persuaded me to say, “I have a big gyat,” and, through her laughter, she assured me that it meant I had a "big heart." It didn’t take me long to discover it meant something else entirely (gyat = butt). Then there’s “skibidi” and “sigma”—both of which I’m still “lowkey” trying to figure out.
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Whether you’re a parent, guardian, teacher or educator, we’ve all found ourselves stumped by the latest slang. But the truth is, understanding these words gives us a unique window into our kids' and students’ worlds, and let’s face it—it’s a great way to make them laugh or give you an eye roll.
Slang in the Classroom (and at Home)
Let’s talk about my husband, a 25-year veteran English IB teacher who loves teaching Macbeth. Using him as my AI human guinea pig, I sent him a “translated” version of a famous Macbeth quote:
"Life’s but a walking shadow, lowkey mid and full of cap."
His response? A groan and eye roll. To be fair, for those who aren’t high school English teachers, Gen Z and Gen Alpha slang can sometimes feel even trickier than deciphering Shakespeare. But just like Macbeth, where each line is packed with deeper meaning, these slang terms are a form of expression—if we can crack the code.
The Birth of the RizzBot
This brings me to a solution I didn’t know I needed. While preparing for our fall AI Educator Brain webinar series, it hit me: why not create something to help fellow parents, teachers, and even students translate between everyday adult speak and this ever evolving slang? And that’s why I published the RizzBot chatbot on ChatGPT—so now you get a ChatBot and everyone can decode the latest slang.
Consider translating Oprah’s famous line:
"You get a car, and you get a car, and you get a car!"
Gen Z:
"Yo, you gettin’ a whip, you gettin’ a whip, everybody’s gettin’ a whip!"
(Slang: whip = car)
Gen Alpha:
"No cap, you get a ride, you get a ride, everyone’s gettin’ a ride!"
(Slang: no cap = seriously, no lie; ride = car)
With the RizzBot, you can instantly translate phrases commonly used by parents and teachers into something teens and tweens will actually understand (or at least listen to). Want to remind your kid to put on socks and shoes? Just ask the bot. Need to remind them to brush their teeth, flush the toilet, and wash their hands? The ChatBot’s got your back. And for teachers, instead of “Your assignment is due in five days,” you’ll get something like,
"Yo, y’all better drop that homework in five days, no cap!"
The goal isn’t just about making us sound cool, “bussin” or “straight fire”—it’s about meeting kids where they are, in a language they relate to. And hey, maybe it’ll cut down on the blank stares we get when we remind them to finish their homework.
Gen Z:
"Yo, you knock out that homework yet or what?"
(Slang: knock out = finish quickly)
Gen Alpha:
"Did you crush that homework, or still cooking?"
(Slang: crush = complete with ease; cooking = still working on it)