The speech of today's young English–speaking people is filled with words and expressions not found in formal English which greatly enhance the sound of their talk, making it very expressive and colorful. And when they write in their own English, it's beautiful too. Colleges, and even some high schools—following the groundbreaking slang projects at Berkeley High—are now compiling dictionaries of their own students' slang; teaching courses in slang; and allowing students to write certain assignments in slang for such purposes.
As these experiments have shown, the development of slang is itself a creative process and does more to help young people's communication skills than to hinder them, so long as they're able to speak and write without the slang when necessary. It's with great satisfaction that I now see young people's slang and idiom being recognized as a form of English in its own right by some of the older generation who probably don't use it themselves, and by some of their educational institutions.
This article is a serious discussion and analysis of Milcax—the creative and highly–developed "White slang" current among teens and preteens especially in California, and also spoken elsewhere to the extent that it has been spread by interpersonal contact and by the media.
Some call it valley slang, but that's inaccurate and misleading. It's quite different from (and more sophisticated than) "Valspeak," the original valley–girl slang, though in part derived from it; and it's no longer just a local or regional dialect, either. Moreover, the word "valley" still carries some negative implications from the valley–girl stereotype (rich, spoiled, brainless) which apply to very few of the kids speaking it now.
The same applies to its male counterpart, variously called "Valley Boy", "Valley Dude" or "Surfer Dude" slang, which then had similar implications, and associations with that region and with surfing, but has none in its present form, having been assimilated together with the Valley Girls' lingo as well as slang from other sources, old and new, leading up to the rich and fascinating form of English that is the subject of this study.
Milcax (the acronym of "Millennium California Saxon") is its accurate descriptive name; it identifies the current (as opposed to the original) version of the dialect, while recognizing its predominantly white usership as well as its West Coast origin.
Expressions that are older, but a part of Milcax today, are discussed here as well. Some of them are 10, 15, or 20 years old; a few go back as far as the 1970's, or even the 60's and earlier. Much of this lingo originated either in the Valley Girl/Surfer Dude set or in various other specific regions or social groups; but it has now spread far beyond them and is heard everywhere, including literature, Internet talks and message boards, movies and TV shows—all of which are among my sources. Also, many of the newer expressions are based on highly innovative grammatical constructions—whose primitive roots may lie in VG/SD, but which have now been taken to far more imaginative levels.
Slang originates among the teenage crowd—and often, nowadays, even younger—but users of slang don't always "outgrow" it; I hear from adults in their 30's and 40's (some, perhaps, former VG/SD's) expressions from their youth that are familiar to everyone today, but still considered slang. So kids today, besides learning new slang from each other (and creating it), are learning older talk from their parents, perhaps without realizing that some of that is slang too. And apparently some adults are picking up newer expressions from their kids now and then as well. I can see (simply as a possibility) a future era in which the whole United States speaks and writes in Milcax—or, rather, in whatever new dialect Milcax will by then have developed into.
The best–known Milcax expressions are sufficiently familiar to be generally understood by a considerable portion of the population. They are heard frequently in young people's discourse, such as the following few sample lines:
"Yeah, right. No way. Ew! Hello, that's mondo lame."
"Way awesome. Wicked rad. That like so kicks major butt."
"So I'm like, um, dude, that totally isn't cool."
The sound of this dialect is nothing new to most Americans, and the meaning of such patter is often obvious enough to those who hear it constantly and pay attention.
But many speakers of Milcax carry it far beyond this elementary level, using words and phrases that are less familiar, and their meanings rather less obvious as well. This little speech is put together out of some of these "advanced Milcax" expressions:
"They're mondo tight with lame–O column scrilla like it's, um, totally the bomb. She's all stoked like it rocks big time before the space, and this dork is so like it's, um, way wicked rad and it kicks total butt. Then he like majorly wigs and that, um, tears it. Yeah, right. Ew! He is like so totally wonk, dude. Bag any serious solid and plan B it. Nack the post–meltdown word up. On that way mondo awesome cooldar of hers, you so don't, um, scan with that kind of to’ stellar dweeb quotient. Major O2 and we're like way toast a quarter to a lock."
This article discusses approximately 150 expressions, ranging from the most familiar to the most obscure, and does not assume that the reader already knows any of them.
There are a few important ways in which Milcax differs from many of the other varieties of slang, such as those confined to particular ethnic groups, social and occupational groups, lifestyles, or subcultures.
First: Slang for the most part is a language in itself, consisting mainly of coinages—new words made up arbitrarily and assigned a meaning—or old words assigned a new meaning unrelated to their own. Milcax, however, is more a process of language development, occurring spontaneously rather than deliberately, and based on established linguistic patterns rather than random coinage, so that words and phrases tend to be assigned new meanings that in some way follow logically from their old ones—a process similar to that by which language itself changes over long periods.
Second: Slang in general is characterized by a strong tendency towards "forced change." Its speakers feel compelled to invent new expressions constantly just for the sake of "newness," and to discard so–called "old" ones that aren't even very old; and consequently slang is constantly changing. But there is much less of this tendency in Milcax, and thus it is much more stable and only changes gradually.
Third: Most kinds of slang are treated by their users, as least to some extent, as a "code language" or "insider talk." But Milcax speakers don't feel any need to conceal the meaning of their slang, or to keep it as their exclusive property. They don't mind if everyone else understands and even uses it. And, indeed, older people such as their parents and teachers often do understand Milcax to some extent, because its inherent "logic" makes it possible to figure out much of it by listening, as mentioned above.
And fourth: Slang in general consists mostly of terms with specific, concrete meanings; but Milcax is an exception to that. There are some specific terms used regularly in Milcax—though most of them originated elsewhere—but, because it has more to do with language evolution than with coinage (as earlier mentioned), it contains a much greater proportion of broad, abstract terms and general conversation, argument or discourse devices, along with a wide range of approval and disapproval terms, behavior terms, and intensifiers. These account for 85 to 90 percent of the Milcax vocabulary.
THE CORE
Milcax begins with the "core"—the small set of expressions that make up the backbone of it: The "like's" and the "so's" and the "dude's" and the "way's" and the "totally's", plus several more. Whether you're trying to speak Milcax, or just to understand it, the core is the place to start.
DUDE is the usual form of address in Milcax: "We're playing ball, dude, come with us." It originated as a Western term meaning a person from the East. As slang, it has at times meant something like "stupid." ("Can't you understand me, dude?") But today, in Milcax, it no longer has any such implication and is in effect just an "inserted" word with no particular meaning, like "buddy" or "Mister" or any other form of address.
Also, DUDE is used in Milcax at the beginning of a sentence as a sign of disagreement when arguing: "Dude, that's not the point!" But even then, the word is no insult; it doesn't mean that its user considers the other party stupid, but merely that (s)he disagrees about the thing being discussed.
YEAH, RIGHT! is a sarcastic expression of disagreement or disbelief—roughly equivalent to "Bull!" Here again, no anger or insult is implied.
STUFF is a general term for anything: "A lot of cool stuff happens in this book."
UM is an inserted and (obviously) meaningless word, but has become practically an essential element of the characteristic sound of Milcax: "I didn't, um, see her." The dialect flows smoothly and naturally with a sprinkling of um's—much more so than without them.
AWESOME is perhaps the most common "approval" term in Milcax—that is, it's just used as a synonym for "good" in any sense: "This song is awesome."
THE BOMB is another approval term: "That comic book is the bomb."
RAD is another: "She wears the raddest clothes." (It's a shortening of "radical," which was used as a slang approval term in the 70's.)
COOL is an old approval term, going back as far as the 1930's. But today, in Milcax, it's alive and well: "That's a cool idea."
SUCK is probably still the most common slang disapproval term: "His place sucks." It's something like 40 to 50 years old and still going strong; terms with such expressive literal meanings make such good slang that they don't die easily, perhaps never.
EW! is the popular expression of disgust or contempt: "Ew, how could he treat her that way?"
MONDO is a slang word for "very": "His party was mondo boring."
WICKED is used two ways. It's another word for "very": "Those chips are wicked salty." And it's also another word for "good": "They serve wicked burgers."
LIKE has been the most–used and best–known "inserted word" in English, from the 40's–50's "Beatnik" slang, through the Valley Girl/Surfer Dude slang, right up to Milcax. In effect, it's a "non–modifier"; you can insert it in any spot where an adverb or adjective could go. Thus: "She like slapped me." "I bought like a wallet." "It's like huge." "I like must have been outside." "It's like around the corner."
LIKE is also the familiar Milcax mechanism for narrating quotations: So I'm like "No way!" and she's like "It's true." and I'm like "Who?" and she's like "That redhead guy." and I'm like "When?" and she's like "Just now."
ALL may be used that way if there is negative feeling about the quotation: ......and I'm like "What's wrong?" and he's all "Go away!" Here the speaker is angry about the fact that the person quoted said "Go away!" That's indicated by the use of ALL instead of LIKE.
BUTT is a routinely–heard element of Milcax, not just in its literal sense but in many figurative uses: "Get your butt out there." "Thanks for saving our butts." "Good singer, my butt!" "We worked our butts off." Of course, BUTT has countless synonyms, and these expressions can just as well be used with any of those words as with BUTT. In recent years, however, the word BUTT has had a great surge of popularity among the younger generation and has now become the usual term for both literal and figurative senses, displacing all the other synonyms. If you want to sound like a member of the Milcax crowd, use BUTT—and use it often.
KICK......BUTT originally referred to physical fighting; but, though still used that way, it no longer has any such implication and can mean simply to defeat or surpass. Thus "Ed kicked Jim's butt in the chess match" simply means Ed won the chess match against Jim. And you can say "Physics kicks chemistry's butt" meaning that physics is more fun than chemistry.
KICKS BUTT is another general "approval" term; so "That shirt kicks butt" can be used as well as "That shirt is cool" or any other way of saying "That shirt is good."
MAJOR is used in Milcax to mean "a lot of": "Those fries have major calories." (And "That shirt is very good" could be expressed as "That shirt kicks major butt.")
MAJORLY is similarly popular in Milcax, with expressions like "I majorly goofed up that homework assignment."
NO WAY! is the familiar expression of refusal, denial, incredulity, or surprise: "I got an A in French." — "No way!"
WAY! is a reply affirming what is denied: "I passed trig." — "No way!" — "Way!" By extension, it can also be a reply to an affirmative statement, expressing agreement: "Soccer is better than football." — "Way!"
WAY is also another Milcax term for "very": "That test was way easy." (Or, to further intensify the shirt's coolness, "That shirt kicks way major butt.")
SO is frequently used to mean "definitely": "He so cheated on that exam!" or "I am so not going there tonight!"
TOTALLY also means "definitely," as in "That was totally the principal's car!" and "She totally shouldn't have been punished."
TOTAL can be used as an adjective supplying the meaning of "definitely"; so "That shirt definitely kicks butt" could be expressed as "That shirt kicks total butt."
APPROVAL TERMS
In the "core" section we discussed AWESOME, RAD, THE BOMB, COOL, KICKS BUTT, and WICKED. Here are some more Milcax "approval" terms.
That movie is SWEET.
That movie is BITCHIN'.
That movie is OUTTA SIGHT.
That movie is TUBULAR.
That movie is PRIME.
That movie is SWANK.
That movie is SICK.
That movie is TITS.
That movie is OFF THE HOOK.
That movie is TIGHT.
That movie ROCKS.
That movie RULES.
That movie GOES.
DISAPPROVAL TERMS
We've already discussed EW! and SUCKS. More "disapproval" terms:
That movie is WEAK.
That movie is RETARDED.
That movie is LAME.
LAME–O is the variant of LAME usually used in the attributive ("before the noun") position, i.e. "I wouldn't go to his lame–O party!"
That movie is BOGUS. (Originally BOGUS meant "fake," but now it's just a general term of disapproval like the others.)
That movie is BUMMER. (Similarly, BUMMER originally meant "boring.")
A few other expressions with various "negative" meanings:
GROSS means "disgusting." For whatever reason, Milcax speakers tend to use it a lot.
GRODY is an altered form of GROSS, very popular in the 80's but now less so.
BITE means "to hurt emotionally." ("It bites when a friend turns against you.")
BUMMED means "unhappy." ("Sarah is bummed because she can't go to the picnic.")
UNCOOL means "socially unacceptable." ("He left her at the party. That's uncool.")
BAG means "to cancel, discard, or forget about." ("We might as well bag that plan.")
COLD may be used as a general term of disapproval, but usually it means "unfortunate." ("Flora's bike was stolen. That's cold.")
BAD BEHAVIOR TERMS
FLAKE means to "chicken out." ("We carried out our plan, but Kevin flaked.")
PIG OUT means to "eat too much." ("I pigged out at the wedding.")
SCREW UP is a general term for doing anything bad or stupid: "You'd better not screw up again."
DISS means to insult (from "disrespect"): "He dissed me when we were outside."
TEAR IT means to destroy a friendship: "She talked behind my back. That tears it."
DOOF is a stupid person.
NERD is an egghead, i.e. successful in school but less so in society.
GEEK is one who is obsessed with magic, superstition, UFO's, and so on.
DORK is a silly or boring person.
DWEEB is an immature person.
Those five words also form adjectives with –y: doofy, nerdy, geeky, dorky, dweeby.
PERP means one who has done wrong (from "perpetrator"): "Let's get even with that perp."
AGRO means violent (from "aggressive"): "If he finds out, he'll go agro."
WHACK means crazy. "Trying to do the whole assignment during recess? That's whack!"
WONK means obnoxious. "Don't invite him to the party. He's wonk."
OTHER BEHAVIOR TERMS
FREEZE means the silent treatment: "Tim is giving me the freeze."
DITCH means to fail to attend something when you should: "He ditched science class."
BAIL ON means to choose not to join: "I bailed on the camping trip."
(If there is an obligation to attend, you use DITCH; if there is none, you use BAIL.)
WAY TO GO! means "You're doing fine." or "Congratulations."
WAY TO...... is used as a general reference to whatever the other party is doing at the time, implying approval or disapproval as appropriate. Thus, "Way to win!" means "Keep it up, you're playing well." and "Way to lose!" means "You're playing lousy."
FREAK means to get hysterical: "The teacher would freak if he saw this T-shirt."
FREAKED means fearful: "My mom was freaked because I was out so late."
WIG means to have a fit of anger: "Henry wigged when that guy hit his car." (The original expression, at least 50–60 years old, was "He flipped his wig.")
RIP ON means to make fun of: "They ripped on Fred for throwing the ball into the dugout."
SPACE means to forget something: "I was going to call you, but I spaced."
BANK means to earn or accumulate: "He's banked a strong friendship with me."
PSYCHED means happy and excited in anticipation of something: "We're going to the amusement park, and my little brother is all psyched about it."
STOKED means thrilled or relieved at hearing good news: "I'm stoked that I passed chemistry."
To HAVE one's BACK means to be loyal or supportive: "Cathy had my back when I was in trouble."
SOLID means loyalty: "I've always gotten plenty of solid from him."
MELTDOWN means a breakdown or trauma: "Jenny had a meltdown when her cat was run over."
–DAR comes from the word "radar" and is suffixed to another word such as "cool". Thus, "cooldar" means one's radar (i.e. instinct) for detecting "coolness". So you'll say "My cooldar isn't picking him up" or "He doesn't scan on my cooldar"—meaning "I don't consider him cool".
CONVERSATIONAL TERMS
In the core section we saw DUDE, UM, STUFF, and LIKE. Here are more.
CATCH YA! is the popular Milcax way of saying "Goodbye."
OH, SNAP! is an expression of surprise. (I have little doubt that it originated as an alteration of the "S–word", though some of the young kids who use it may not even realize that.) I hear it a lot in New York, but it isn't popular in the West as far as I know. So it's really an outsider, trying to "join" Milcax, so to speak. I guess it'll get in—gradually.
WHATEVER. This usually means something like "It's all the same to me."
CAN (from "cancel") is a self–correction: "Can that, I didn't mean it."
NIX...... is a change of position: "Nix what I said yesterday."
STRAIGHT UP! means seriously, as opposed to jokingly. It can be a statement meaning "I'm serious" or a question meaning "Are you serious?" It's also used as a reply meaning "I agree."
FOR SURE! was the old (and now nearly obsolete) expression corresponding to "Straight up!"
WORD! can be a reply, expressing agreement or satisfaction with what another has said; and some use it to mean "hello" or "goodbye."
WORD UP! is used often to mean "Congratulations!" or "Way to go!"
WHAT'S UP WITH...... in its slang sense means "What's the reason for....." ("You didn't come to my party. What's up with that?")
ACK...... (from "Acknowledged") means "I agree with......" ("Ack what your sister said yesterday.")
ARGUMENT TERMS
HELLO! is used to draw attention to a statement: "Hello, who made this mess?"
YOU WISH! (dating from the 60's) means "That's what you think!"
DUH! is a sarcastic reply (also from the 60's) meaning "I don't need you to tell me that!"
IXNAY...... means stop: "Ixnay the yelling! They might hear you."
CHILLAX! means "Calm down!" (It's the older expression "Chill!" combined with "Relax.")
F.Y.I. means "for your information." (It began as a business expression used in office memos.)
NEWS FLASH! is another expression like F.Y.I. They both mean "Don't you even know this?"
BIG WHIP! means "Big deal!" (Apparently it's an alteration of "Big whoop.")
OH, WOW! (an expression from the 70's) also means "Big deal!"
OH, RIGHT! is a variant of "Yeah, right!" (meaning "Bull!")
NACK...... (from "not acknowledged") means "I disagree with......" ("Bob likes her dress, but nack that.")
LOSE (imperative) "get rid of." ("Lose that necklace. It looks awful.")
INTENSIFIERS
Terms meaning things like "definitely" or "very". In the core section we saw some of these (MONDO, WICKED, MAJOR, WAY, SO, TOTALLY). Here are some more:
HELLA means very: "Their house is hella big." (It's a contraction of "hell of a," as in "That's a hell of a big house.")
MEGA– may be used for very, as in "That's a mega–hard job."
IT'S LIKE...... is an introduction for emphasis: "It's like, she should mind her own business."
TO THE MAX (from "maximum") means "greatly"; it's old but still used occasionally: "It bored me to the max."
BIG TIME is a more modern term for "greatly": "He spoiled the party big time."
TO’! is short for "totally" as a one–word reply: "Was it Phil who did it?" — "To’!"
STELLAR is another two–way term; it can mean "good" ("That was a stellar prank!") or it can mean "very" ("This idea is stellar cool.")
SERIOUS (like MAJOR) is used in Milcax to mean "a lot of." ("You need serious money to buy a house.")
MOSTLY has been used in the past for meanings like "almost" and "probably" and "usually"—though that was simply erroneous usage rather than slang. But today in Milcax, it's sometimes used for "greatly" or "very" or "definitely" as a sarcastic form of that earlier usage, e.g. "If Dad finds out, he'll mostly punish you."—meaning he'll definitely and severely punish you.
SPECIFIC TERMS
Slang in general consists mostly of terms with specific, concrete meanings. But Milcax is an exception to that; it has more to do with language evolution than with coinage, as earlier mentioned, and consequently it contains a much greater proportion of broad, abstract terms and general conversation or discourse devices, which occupy the other sections here. However, there are some specific terms used regularly in Milcax (though most of them originated elsewhere) and in this section we will look at some of those.
TWEEN is what pre–teens are usually called in Milcax—by themselves and by teens. "A lot of tweens eat there."
MOJO is a specific talent or aptitude, when viewed as partly luck: "Al's essay wasn't too good. I guess he didn't have his mojo today."
TRANSPO is a bicycle.
BUD is the usual Milcax term for "friend." ("I'm meeting some of my buds here.")
CHECK OUT means to examine. "Check out those radios they got on sale."
ASAP means as soon as possible. "Please bring the desk in here asap."
STAT means immediately. "Hello?......Alice?......Get over here stat!"
BUSTED means caught or discovered. "Lenny tried to sneak in, but he got busted."
TVIP means "Totally very important person."
TOAST means "in trouble." ("If we get caught in the supply room, we'll be toast.") This expression goes all the way back to the 19th century! Originally it was "we'll be on toast."
TRUMPS means "is more important than." "I'd like to go with you, but my homework trumps the movie." (Literally, to trump means "to defeat.")
A GO is a thing planned or scheduled: "The picnic's a go for Saturday."
SCRILLA means money.
SNAKE means to steal. "Someone snaked my CD."
HIT means begin. "I have to clean out the garage, and I'm going to hit it right after school."
O2 means breath or speaking (in chemistry, O2 is oxygen). "Save your O2. He won't listen anyway."
ROADKILL means victim of, or target of. "If I buy THAT hat, I'll be joke roadkill."
PLAN B IT is to use an alternate plan. "We don't have the train fare, so we'll have to plan B it."
GENERAL DISCUSSION TERMS
HANG is to pass the time together. "I hang with Mark and his friends."
GO DOWN (a 60's expression) means happen. "I heard screaming. What went down?"
PICK UP is to draw a conclusion. "I'm pickin' up that she's mad at him."
PUT DOWN is to hint or suggest. "I was puttin' down that I liked her."
GOES is another quotation–narrating term, much older than "like" but still used sometimes. (......and I go "Please!" and she goes "No!")
NO BIG means "It's no big deal." "I don't need it till Friday, so no big if you can't bring it now."
COOL WITH means in agreement with, or in favor of, or satisfied with: "I'm cool with Diane's idea."
DOWN WITH is another form of the same term: "I wish I could go, but my mom isn't down with it."
TIGHT WITH is a third: "I only got a C+, but I'm tight with that."
WORKS FOR ME. Still another way of saying "I'm cool with it."
QUOTIENT is used in Milcax to mean "the extent of" even if no actual numbers are involved; e.g. the extent to which you're considered cool by others is your "cool quotient."
A LOCK means a certainty: "Ellen must be there by now. It's a lock."
COLUMN is used in referring to a thing chosen from among two or more—an extension of the "column A and column B" idea. So one might say "I'll opt for column beach"—meaning I'll go to the beach rather than the movie or the ball game or whatever the other alternatives are.
A QUARTER TO is used in Milcax for "almost" (as in "a quarter to ten") with a slang variation in that it's extended to all contexts instead of just the time: "She's a quarter to cool" means she's almost cool; "He's a quarter to a dork" means he's almost a dork.
So four Milcax–speaking kids discussing the shirt might say:
Blossom: "That shirt kicks butt."
Kuki: "More than that, it kicks MAJOR butt."
Muffy: "I'd even say it kicks WAY major butt."
Dil: "Well, I wouldn't go that far......but it kicks a QUARTER to way major butt!"