The most popular slang words of 2015

Another year, another collection of “hip terms” that make me feel like I’m aging at lightning speeds. As 2015, the year of the “laughing emoji,” comes to an end, it seems only appropriate that we round up all of the slang words that have made the most appearances these past few months. They may not all make sense, but that hasn’t stopped my teenage brother from dropping them in every other text.

Squad

Christmas came early this year when Taylor Swift kicked off her world tour back in May. In doing so, not only did she bring the gift of music to hundreds of thousands of people but she also introduced the masses to the concept of a “girl squad.” The more high-profile friends she invited on stage, the more #girlsquad hashtags started popping up on Instagram and the more convinced I became that a Kanye-TayTay Presidential ticket would be wildly successful. Kay-Tay 2016.

Low-key

I low-key love low-key. It’s the cooler, more “Orange County surfer boy” way of saying “kinda” so instead of admitting that you’re “kinda into the Biebs” you would say you’re “low-key into Biebs” thus making your statement sound a tad more acceptable. Alternatively, you can use the opposite, “high-key,” to comment on something you really admire. Like “I’m high-key into socks and sandals, and also making fashion experts cry.”

Chill

First came Chillax. Then came No Chill. Then came Netflix and Chill. Maybe all of the iced coffee is finally starting to go to our heads but it seems as though this country is obsessed with “chill” recently. Granted, it’s far better than some of the alternatives — hang, bum around, sit on the couch in sweatpants transfixed by the television — but that doesn’t make it okay.

Goals

When you see two people sharing zombie apocalypse-themed engagement photos or coordinating lip-sync duets on YouTube, you call them #relationshipgoals. (We’re a big fan of those.) When you see a dad build a mini roller coaster in the backyard for his son, you call that #parentinggoals. When you hear about a woman who went to the animal shelter and purchased all of their available cats, you call that #lifegoals. If you weren’t setting goals in 2015, you weren’t living.

Blessed

Blessed, I think, started out as a genuine expression of thankfulness that people would attach to their vacation photos and wedding party pics (usually in hashtag form). Since then, it has blossomed into a partly sarcastic way to acknowledge happy life moments. As in, the cashier at Dunkin Donuts gave you a medium iced coffee for the price of a small? Blessed. Or, there’s a slight breeze outside that finally allows you to wear a light sweatshirt without overheating. Blessed.

Rekt

I hated the word “rekt” when it first came out because it doesn’t look like a real word. It looks like someone got angry at their laptop and threw it against the wall with a word processor open and this term ended up on the screen. Rekt is a shortened version of “wrecked” meaning “destroyed” or “ruined.” It’s usually used to describe one’s mental state after a night of heavy partying. In fact, it’s probably the only word one can properly write out after a night of heavy partying.

Hella

Sorry, T-Swift. You can’t copyright “hella.” This word’s for everyone. Before Tay slipped this word into her hit “Shake It Off,” Macklemore was dropping “hellas” everywhere in his song “Thrift Shop” which brought the word back from the brink of extinction. I’m so glad he did because I’ve been looking for a way to describe Chris Hemsworth’s “hella fine hair” in Thor for ages.

Yas/Yaaaaaaaas

Yas is for those who needs a little bit more excitement in their life, those who aren’t satisfied with the simple “yes” or “yay,” those who need to shout their enthusiasm. Imagine someone screaming “yayyy queen yayyy.” It just doesn’t have the same ring to it as “YASS QUEEN YASS.” (Or, if it’s December, sleigh Queen sleigh!)

Shade

If someone’s throwing “major shade,” it means they’re expressing something negative about you indirectly or subtly. The term has apparently been around since the 1990s, descending from a documentary on Parisian drag queens, and has since become popular among teens. Shade can be thrown or it can stand alone like “she gave me blatant shade when I spoiled Walking Dead for her last week.”

Lit

Don’t even talk to me about this word. It’s too lit.

[Image via Instagram]