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c economist jsuii r fca v ythursdayjani8 2001 16 c whatteens jo daycare saying jull t v bystefaniarizzi staff writer hen renee brantonbrown and caitlin valloeau attended a high school leadership conference last year they learned more than what it means to be a good mentor the two sutton district high school students learned the lingo i being spoken in other high schools across york region i learned every kind of talk said brantonbrown 18 i learned so many words and the different meanings to those words i came home talking differently because i picked up on those words from the people around me added valloeau 16 referring to such words as tight ghetto thafs hype mint and chillax it has long been known that among themselves teens speak a language all their own gobledygookto the over- 19 set although current trendy words such as ill sick phat geevin or bate appear to be foreign words experts agree slang words are just creative vari- atioris of familiar slang or words with opposite literal meanings teens from across the region say the primary influences on the way they talk are not poets or celebrated authors but the music they hear the tv shows and movies they watch their culture and friends in the recently released motion picture save the last dance for example julia stiles character is corrected by a friend when she uses the word cool instead of slam- min to describe an outfit and the words that arehip and cool one r minute can quickly become yesterdays catch- phrase jf w the words update themselves at lightning speed because teens get tired of using them or they are overused or become mainstream said biagioaulino v head of the moderns department at father bressani catholic high school in woodbridge its like fashion the words come and go they have different meanings but the same words were in back then too said aulino who is working on a doc torate thesis on teen talk they speak like that because they want to draw attention to themselves they like to have their own little language said aulino adding teens areoften offended when adults try to talk their talk- through his studies aulino found young adolescents use a lot of interjections exclama- tions emotional states acronyms and coin words to form one word cornbin- irig chill and relax for example to create chillax just like the internet has reinvented the communications world it has found its way into teen lingo teens are starting to talk through abbreviations because of the internet said aulino who has also studied teen talk in italy that makes them harder to jj understand v although it rriayappear to hamper their oral or written skills the catch phrases and slang teens use does not hinder them from becoming articulate adults aiilino believes 7ty ca it could affect them but i think the majority know when to use proper gjt- clanguage hefsaid vtheres a transition period but some can be in their 30s and still be vspealdriglike a teensaid aulino remembering a time when he was i x waiting in line arid heard an adultasking his friend for sticks as in cig- rvfarettes v hbweyergrade 12 bfothefandre catholic high school student amanda gibson disagrees 7h the 17yearld markham student tutors english and has found slang can affect a studeriyswntmg skills slang dictionary ghetto urban s thats hype exciting mint cool chillax relax iii sick phat sweet solid good geevin dont care bate asking for trouble ybu dig do you under stand brutal hurtin bad bones money i5 see lingo page 17 v