Perks of Being a 21st-Century Kid

By: Yasmine Anne Sison

Days like this, you would typically hear things like, “That performance was lit!” along with
overwhelming yet fantastic expressions like “Yasss!” and maybe a throw in a bunch of “on fleek”
statuses from time to time. All these quite laughable things making a new sub-category in language the
youth are accustomed to today.
You could scroll down through your social media feeds, an entrée of videos coming into view on
auto-play, with a side of “memes” to satisfy your entertainment cravings. And a bunch of pictures of
people you know—and most probably including people you don’t know. All of this is where the
Generation Z vocabulary is birthed.
What’s quite funny, yet weird is that we do not even notice that us kids of the 21st century,
already naturally have these words that slip off our tongues just like that.
If we really think about it, a lot of the words we hear today are quite ludicrous and pretty much
meaningless. But we wouldn’t want to be “salty” (express bitterness or show negative thoughts for
something or someone) throwing around our own strict opinions on this.
Surprisingly though, this lingo is so habitually used that it’s seemingly more convenient applying
certain terms like these in our life. Because many of the terms are easier (and possibly less cruel) ways
of saying things, and this could help in communication. With the created language, communication is
more abundant, and this promotes unity in a community.
Our every day is filled with fun and unique terms we get to hear from others and brew up a
conversation with them. Small things like emojis that help express emotions in very accurate ways, so
that even if you were away from the person you were talking to, they would still know what you feel at a
particular moment.
The generation may depend on shorter terminologies in place of actual words and our large use
of emojis, but that does not necessarily mean that we are not normal. We indulge in the fact that we are
far different from previous generations. And it is the wiser thing to identify that change—in anything or
anyone—is always present and is a natural occurrence we cannot avoid.
The world and the people who live on its surface continuously explore the whole of what it has
become and is to become. Be it through our one-click way of communicating, or the speedy travel of
information from one place to another.
Us as millennials, we continue to travel through different stages of change and growing up.
Today, we continue to enjoy the perks of being a 21st century kid. Having enough flexibility to
adjust to things that change over time. Words, trends, people and whatnot