How to... be 'down with the kids'
Created | Updated May 27, 2003
Ever wondered what anyone under the age of 16 is talking about?
Well, after years... months... weeks... days... okay 5 minutes eavesdropping on a bunch of 13-year-olds, I can now decipher at least some of what they are on about.
The Speak
They often speak in confusing quasi-hiphop slang, with such terms as minging, bling bling and mongol. Here's a brief dictionary of what terms I know.
Minging: rubbish
Bling bling: cool, good, classy (sound made by rapper's jewellery)
Class: really good
Mongol: idiot
Spazz: go mad
Skatey: people who skateboard or have pretensions to skateboarding
Ritza: derogatory term for non-skateys
The Clothes
They come in two groups: 'skater' and 'ritza'. 'Ritzas' tend to be female and copy pop groups in their style. They alos giggle a lot. 'Skateys' wear ridiculously baggy trouser siwth chains dangling from them and baseball caps (but not backwards. That is soooo nineties). It's all based on copying pop or rock groups.
The Phenomenon of Pester Power
The odd thing about this is that, in a way, kids can get whatever they want merely by nagging their parants non-stop. Whether it be a mobile phone, the now pathetic Pokemon cards or the latest computer console, they won't stop until they get what they want. Companies have realised this and will market aggressively at kids, trying tomake them want the latest piece of a junk so badly they won't shut up about it. Tactics used in pester power vary depending on the child's age. Infants will wail until they get something. 5-11 year olds will keep on repetitively. Teenagers will sulk and moan that everyone else has one, or tell their parents that they hate them. Most of them are rather gullible to advertising and will lap up whatever is thrown at them, however bad. This explains the success of Hear'Say and other manufactured bands. Obviously some of them rufuse to listen the advertising, but they are a rarity. The fact is, if you hype it enough, it'll sell.
Well, after years... months... weeks... days... okay 5 minutes eavesdropping on a bunch of 13-year-olds, I can now decipher at least some of what they are on about.
The Speak
They often speak in confusing quasi-hiphop slang, with such terms as minging, bling bling and mongol. Here's a brief dictionary of what terms I know.
Minging: rubbish
Bling bling: cool, good, classy (sound made by rapper's jewellery)
Class: really good
Mongol: idiot
Spazz: go mad
Skatey: people who skateboard or have pretensions to skateboarding
Ritza: derogatory term for non-skateys
The Clothes
They come in two groups: 'skater' and 'ritza'. 'Ritzas' tend to be female and copy pop groups in their style. They alos giggle a lot. 'Skateys' wear ridiculously baggy trouser siwth chains dangling from them and baseball caps (but not backwards. That is soooo nineties). It's all based on copying pop or rock groups.
The Phenomenon of Pester Power
The odd thing about this is that, in a way, kids can get whatever they want merely by nagging their parants non-stop. Whether it be a mobile phone, the now pathetic Pokemon cards or the latest computer console, they won't stop until they get what they want. Companies have realised this and will market aggressively at kids, trying tomake them want the latest piece of a junk so badly they won't shut up about it. Tactics used in pester power vary depending on the child's age. Infants will wail until they get something. 5-11 year olds will keep on repetitively. Teenagers will sulk and moan that everyone else has one, or tell their parents that they hate them. Most of them are rather gullible to advertising and will lap up whatever is thrown at them, however bad. This explains the success of Hear'Say and other manufactured bands. Obviously some of them rufuse to listen the advertising, but they are a rarity. The fact is, if you hype it enough, it'll sell.
