[Instructors: Download PDFs of this exercise and solution at the end of the post.]
Everyone uses slang, especially when speaking to peers. While slang can create unity and community among peers, it can also alienate those who are not part of the in-group and affect how others view your professionalism.
Below are ten sentences containing popular millennial slang words. Rewrite the sentences to sound more appropriate for the workplace.
| Word | Definition | Used in Sentence |
| lit | amazing | Did you see how Dipali made that sale? That was so lit. |
| trash | terrible, worthy of being thrown out | That email from HR about the increase in our co-pay was trash. |
| cancel(led) | to reject a person, place, or thing | Just because Mateo criticized your report in the meeting, you can’t cancel him. |
| drag | to rake someone through the coals; burn someone | I’m going to drag Ellen to the ground after she left me to clean up the office kitchen. |
| woke | being aware | You need to stay woke when Michelle sends out those meeting reminders. |
| savage | hard core | Did you hear that Su-lin stayed up all night to make that deadline? That’s just savage. |
| sic | cool | We made the sales goal! That’s sic! |
| hardcore | intense (can be used as a positive or negative) | Mireya is so hardcore she finished that brief in one day. Brendan got laid off. That is hardcore. |
| live | cool/exciting or extreme/intense | The intercultural training session was way live.
Miranda was way too live during that meeting. |
| excluded from this narrative | negative response to a request | Jean asked me to show the new dude the office, but I’m so busy I want to be excluded from that narrative. |
Key to Slanguage: Not for Use at Work
| Slanguage Sentence | Standard English Sentence |
| Did you see how Dipali made that sale? That was so lit. | Did you see how Dipali made that sale? That was impressive! |
| That email from HR about the increase in our co-pay was trash. | That email from HR about the increase in our co-pay was upsetting. |
| Just because Mateo criticized your report in the meeting, you can’t cancel him. | Just because Mateo criticized your report in the meeting, you can’t ignore him. |
| I’m going to drag Ellen to the ground after she left me to clean up the office kitchen. | After Ellen left me to clean up the office kitchen, I’m going to suggest we put up a sign reminding people to do their own dishes. |
| You need to stay woke when Michelle sends out those meeting reminders. | You should pay attention when Michelle sends out those meeting reminders. |
| Did you hear that Su-lin stayed up all night to make that deadline? That’s just savage. | Did you hear that Su-lin stayed up all night to make that deadline? That’s dedication! |
| We made the sales goal! That’s sic! | We made the sales goal! That’s phenomenal! |
| Mireya is so hardcore she finished that brief in one day.
Brendan got laid off. That is hardcore. |
Mireya is so diligent she finished that brief in one day.
Brendan got laid off. That is awful. |
| The intercultural training session was way live.
Miranda was way too live during that meeting. |
The intercultural training session was really interesting.
Miranda was way too intense during that meeting. |
| Jean asked me to show the new dude the office, but I’m so busy I want to be excluded from that narrative. | Jean asked me to show the new guy the office, but I’m so busy I’d rather skip it. |
