I opened the door the other day, and my 13-year-old cousin looked at me and said, “delulu goofinator 67.”

I’m assuming it meant hello. But it did make me think- does this generation even speak English anymore? Or are they just inventing an entirely new language based on the internet?

To be fair, this isn’t a new concept. Every generation has had its own slang. A lot of it comes from media, music, and pop culture, and then slowly becomes part of everyday language.

What’s different now is the scale. Because of social media, language doesn’t spread slowly anymore. It spreads instantly, to millions of people at the same time. And because of that, it’s evolving a lot faster.

Right now, a lot of the way people talk is being shaped directly by what they consume online. And you can almost break it into a few different categories depending on where it’s coming from.

The first is the younger, more “iPad generation,” especially kids who are constantly on TikTok or YouTube. This is usually the type of slang that feels the most confusing- things like “gyatt,” “67,” or references like “skibidi toilet.” A lot of these phrases don’t even have a clear meaning. They’re repeated because they’re tied to something funny or recognizable online. You’ll even see this show up in classrooms, where kids say these things out loud just because they know it will get a reaction. At that point, it’s less about communication and more about participation.

The second category is what people online call “brainrot.” This is where phrases are repeated so often that they almost lose meaning completely. They become more like inside jokes than actual words. People use them casually in conversation, even when they don’t fully make sense in context. What makes this feel different is how constant it is. It’s not just one phrase becoming popular- it’s dozens, all circulating at the same time, reinforced by algorithms.

The third category is more recognizable. This is the kind of language that comes from pop culture and gets adopted more broadly- words like “period,” “lowkey,” “go off,” or calling someone “queen” or “king.” This type of slang is more structured. Most people understand what it means, and it actually works as part of normal conversation. It’s also the type that tends to last longer.

There are a few psychological reasons behind this.

The first is social belonging. People naturally adopt the language of the groups they want to be part of. If everyone around you is using certain words, you’re more likely to use them too.

The second is identity. The way people speak is a big part of how they present themselves. Using certain slang can signal what communities you’re part of or what kind of content you consume.

There’s also mimicry and social learning. People repeat what they hear, especially when it’s tied to something entertaining or popular.

And then there’s FOMO. If you don’t understand the language, you feel left out of the conversation, so people learn it just to keep up.

This brings up a bigger question: is this actually something new, or just a faster version of what’s always happened?

Slang itself isn’t unusual. Every generation has had it. The difference now is how quickly it spreads and how often it changes. Instead of a few phrases lasting for years, you now have trends that cycle in and out in weeks.

There are some positives to this. It creates a sense of community, allows people to bond over shared references, and can make communication feel more expressive and personalized.

But there are also downsides. When language becomes too dependent on trends, it can lose clarity. It can also create gaps between different groups, especially across age ranges. And in some cases, people end up repeating things without fully understanding them.

So the question isn’t really whether this generation is “ruining” language. It’s more about how language is evolving in response to the internet.

And whether you want to participate in that- or not.