I swear some people just don't get that language changes over time and some slang just gets dropped really quickly.
Things people used to say when I was a kid that no one says anymore includes:
Epic
Wicked
Hella
Gay and the r slur as an insult, although some edgelord chuds try to force it back.
Sweet
Noob
l33t
The one comparing feminists to Nazis (thank god this one is gone)
Sick
And many, many more that I've forgotten
I feel like "based" is also being phased out, though "cringe" seems to have more staying power. TBF I feel like we didn't quite have something that really evoked the same emotion that "cringe" does before it came into the lexicon.
People used to use "gay" for that before cringe became a thing
I still say wicked, sweet hella and sick and those came from the 80s mostly. It's still pretty common slang amongst punks and skaters and such, we still talk like Bill and Ted.
I just got reminded of that song, "Incredible" by General Levy...
it includes those lyrics...
1337/leet/l33t means "elite" and was a term to show that you were computer savvy or in on internet culture. 1337 H4X∅R would mean, "Elite hacker." According to Wikipedia, it originated on early BBS message boards where users could have "elite" status, giving access to special chatrooms, but I'd say most people encountered it later, in the context of gaming, where it could be used to brag about winning through hacking a game or using exploits, or just to brag about being good at it.
Ah, it seems I didn't know this one because I wasn't online enough at that age. Wish I could say the same now lmao
When I say I go to 1337x.to for torrents, I just say "one three three seven ecks" because the kids do not know
The one comparing feminists to Nazis (thank god this one is gone)
I see this one on the regular, you sure it's gone?
Maybe I've seen it less because I don't read Reddit or YouTube comments anymore lol
Used to be able to chop your balls off, turn into a jet, fly into the sun and die. Can't anymore because of
wokeclass consciousnessI have a middle aged colleague who still talks with this era of stuff and its so unbelievably cringe. It's not even offensive its just CHRONICALLY UNCOOL
Jesus why are people having serious discussions on an image referencing “like a boss”. Don’t even touch grass. Go to a fucking cornfield
Maybe it's because all popular media is corporatised grey goo now, whereas in the time of thelonelyisland, there was still minor room for internet creativity to be slightly different than very generic.
It used to be you could just lick boots and be a yes man but now you can't because of class consciousness.