DO YOU SPEAK GEN-Z?

 HALLIE EPHRON: Welcome, once again, to WHAT WE'RE WRITING (OR NOT) WEEK on Jungle Red...

Awhile back I started writing a story about three generations of women living in a Brooklyn brownstone. The oldest (a psychic who is in her 70s) lives on the top floor. Her daughter (in her late 40s, a psychologist) is one floor down on the parlor floor. And on the garden level and in her 20s, the granddaughter who is an influencer on social media.

Generational combat ensues.

I opened with writing with the oldest woman narrating. Easy peasy. Next chapter, her daughter, a research psychologist, takes over as narrator. And we were rolling along nicely ...

But when it came to writing the youngest, I hit a wall. What would she sound like? What would she notice, admire, find annoying? What would be her blind spots? Sources of irritation. And what words and phrases would she use to think about that?

The "voice" wouldn't come to me.

So I put the work aside. Realizing I needed to rethink the premise... maybe the two older women live above a cat cafe and a whole host of weirdos, animal and otherwise, live on the garden floor? That, or talk to a whole lot more Gen Z influencers.

The wisdom of this was validated recently as I read the many articles that have been coming out as we approach the new year, cataloguing recently coined turns of phrase and vocabulary of Generation Z. I am... to use a phrase from some past generation... clueless.

So would you be as lost as I am, trying the write convincing Gen-Z-speak? 

Here's your quiz... What terms in PART A go with the descriptions in PART B? (Answers are below.)

PART A - Terms

1. CHOPPED
2. SHREK - SHREKKING
3. AURA FARMING
4. 6-7
5. BALLERINA CAPUCCINA
6. GEN Z STARE
7. RAGE BAIT
8. LOCKING IN

PART B - Definitions

A. Rude slang term for dating people who are perceived not to be on par with their mates
B. An intense-focus state of someone bent on reaching a goal.
C. Gen Alpha's favorite series of numbers
D. You would not want someone using this term to describe your appearance.
E. A member of the Italian brain rot crew, an absurd group of A.I.-generated characters (in a meme that flooded TikTok)
F. A condescending blank stare that GEN Zers give to comments that they deem unworthy of responding to
G. Someone who does something repetitive to look cool
H. Attention seeking online behavior

For the answers scroll down...

Scroll down..

Scroll down...

Scroll down...
ANSWERS
1. CHOPPED (D)
2. SHREK - SHREKKING (A)
3. AURA FARMING (G)
4. 6-7 (C)
5. BALLERINA CAPUCCINA (E)
6. GEN Z STARE (F)
7. RAGE BAIT (H)
8. LOCKING IN (B)

So how'd you do?

And what weird expressions did you grow up with that would baffle today's twenty-somethings?

Limited Edition!

 Jenn McKinlay: I have a confession to make. It’s embarrassing. I probably should keep it to myself but we’re all friends, right? I know you won’t judge me. So here it is.

*Jenn takes a deep breath*

If you put “Limited Edition” on a food item, I will 100% buy it. I know, I know, I should have more willpower. I should be stronger and not so easily manipulated by Madison Avenue and their marketing shenanigans but…but…what if I miss something truly spectacular? It’s LIMITED EDITION -- what if I never get to try it and my life spirals into an abyss of sad because I missed out on the one thing that would make life worth living?

I see you shaking your head. You think I’m being dramatic, well, let me prove you wrong. Snickers came out with a limited edition pecan snickers and it was so good I bought the store out. Completely out.

I texted my candy freak bestie so that she didn’t miss out, because I’m thoughtful like that. Well, yes, by the time the limited edition disappeared, I did have to pay my dentist an exorbitant amount of money for some fillings. No, I’m not saying the pecan Snickers is the reason I am now looking at an implant but I’m not not saying it either.

Now there have been some real clunkers and you’d think I’d learn my lesson but how was I supposed to know that ketchup flavored Doritos would be terrible. Okay, yes, a person with willpower and common sense would know but that clearly ain’t me.

As I’m writing this I am noshing a package of Selena Gomez inspired cinnamon Oreos. Yes, they’re limited edition. And, y’all, they are next level. See? How sad would my Saturday night have been if I hadn’t grabbed them? Wicked sad!

Confess, Reds and Readers, are you a sucker for limited edition? What items have you loved or hated?

Achievement Unlocked.

 

JENN McKINLAY: It took me 15 years to finish this %$#@!&^%$# skull scarf for Hooligan 1, but I did it just in time for his 25th birthday. Y'all, I don't think I've ever felt such a sense of accomplishment in my life. 

How did I get myself into this, you ask? Maybe you didn't. I'll tell you anyway.

I decided to teach myself to knit in 2008. I made a bunch of simple scarfs, very fun, but then wanted a challenge. While looking through patterns one day, Hooligan 1 saw this one and asked if I'd make it for him. "Sure!" I said WAY TOO CONFIDENTLY. I bought the pattern off the Ravelry website and bought the yarn and set to work. At the same time, Otto our salt and pepper schnauzer entered our lives. 

I had gotten a good start on the scarf when Otto got into my yarn basket and as the Hub said when he found him, "I didn't know where the dog started and the yarn began and vice versa." Mercifully, the puppy didn't strangle himself. The destroyed project was ripped out and put on a shelf and promptly forgotten about. A few years later, I found it and started again assured that the puppy who now had his buddy Annie as a playmate would stay out of it. They did. 

But here's the thing. THOSE STITCHES ARE TINY. 

This frigging scarf took FOREVER!!! I'd pick it up and work on it a little bit through the year and then put it down to work on more interesting projects. It became a running joke between me and H1 as to whether or not I'd ever finish it. Then I was cleaning my office, found it again, and realized I was 30 rows from finishing. Newly motivated I spent the week before his birthday working on it. Maybe four hours of work in total. WHY didn't I get this done years ago? Argh!!!

Needless to say, H1 was surprised and pleased and I was relieved. Seriously, achievement unlocked, as the gamers say, and I will never knit anything with those teeny tiny stitches ever again!

So, fess up, Reds and Readers, what's a project you put off forever and then it took no time to finish?