Our Favorite Gen Z Phrases

This week, us Gen Z-ers at Her Campus Conn Coll are thinking a lot about the slang we use in our daily lives. And it’s giving… slay. Here are some of the phrases that live rent-free in our minds and vocabularies:

My personal favorite “Gen Z” word is the timeless “slay.” However, in saying that, I would be remiss not to point out that, like a lot of other “Gen Z slang,” “slay” is rooted in African American Vernacular English, or AAVE, almost always without proper acknowledgement. It has deeper roots than just “Gen Z Slang–” and is often used to question the intelligence of black Americans who use it while simultaneously using it as “TikTok language,” or slang. That said, I enjoy and use the word, and it has managed to remain in my vocabulary for probably way too long. I have in fact been known to use it so much that I managed to earn the nickname “Slayer” at one point… which was entertaining! I do encourage anyone, Gen Z or not, to look into the roots of the words they are using, even if “slang,” and make sure they are doing so and speaking about them respectfully!

• Caroline Snyder ‘26

I definitely use “Gen Z Slang” in my daily speech, but much like Gretchen in Mean Girls, I have ambitions of starting my own catchy one-liners, and I will be using this collaborative article to bring them to your attention if that’s alright with you. The first phrase is, “I wouldn’t know him from Adam.” I didn’t make up this phrase, or any of my phrases, but this one refers back to the biblical Adam. It is to be used whenever you don’t recognize a name in someone’s story. For example, my friend is telling me about her new crush and tells me, “I’m sure you’ve seen him around,” and shows me a photo from his Instagram. “Nope, I wouldn’t know him from Adam.” It is so unnecessary, but I like the humor and eccentricity. Another phrase for your consideration is “obsessed with these vibes.” If there is ever an awkward silence when you’re hanging out with a group of people, or if the general atmosphere of an interaction is absolutely horrendous, may I recommend breaking the tension by loudly and cheerfully announcing that you are “obsessed with these vibes.” Thirdly and finally, I would like to suggest adding “if I were a betting man…” to your vernacular. This one I stole from Lara, but I made a very serious effort to adopt it from her. You can say this phrase before stating literally anything. For example, somebody asks me what my plans are for the night. I reply, “If I were a betting man, I’d probably go get dinner and maybe watch a movie.” Or maybe someone asks you what 2 + 2 is: “If I were a betting man, I’d say 4.” Anyways, please give these phrases the renaissance that they deserve and make me famous for telling you about them. 

• Catherine Gwinnett ‘24

Like Catherine, I tend to take the essence of popular phrases, transform them into something particularly Lara, and run with them. For example, it is quite common for people, really of all generations, to ask “On a scale from one to ten, how are you feeling?” I’ve even seen people get a bit creative and ask something like, “On a scale from flats to heels, what’s the vibe for tonight?” I tend to abandon this structure entirely. At least once a day, I throw a crazy scale into the conversation: “On a scale from 8 to 294, how was your day?” Or, as I asked my mom yesterday, “On a scale from apples to the television, how did that make you feel?” Since Catherine brought up one of my phrases, I’ll throw in one of hers that I particularly enjoy: “I would rather tell people I’m from Ohio,” used when someone asks you if you would do something that you, obviously, don’t want to do. No hate to people from Ohio, in fact, I don’t know anything about Ohio beyond what’s mentioned in Glee, but I think it is super funny and a great alternative to similar phrases that other folks use. Overall, I am so fascinated by the way language shifts, adapts, and changes at a pace so rapid that it can be hard, even for Gen Z, to keep up. That is, unless you spend two plus hours on TikTok every day. The rise of the word “rizz,” short for charisma, was one that was particularly astonishing to me. Honestly, I can’t wait to see what widely-used phrase pops up next. 

• Lara Beckius ‘24

• Gen Z
• pop culture
• tiktok