If we’ve heard them once, we’ve heard them a thousand times. These once novelty slang phrases contrived by the Millennial generation have now become plain annoying. They might have started a lingual trend in their early days, but now we’re rolling our eyes when we see and hear them repeated continually.
YOLO (You Only Live Once)
This phrase encouraged reckless spontaneity back in the day. It told us to seize the moment, live for the now, and throw caution to the wind. Its overuse has made us a little more selective about what we’re reckless about as it’s thrown about so wildly. Now, it feels more like an excuse for poor decision-making than a motivational mantra.
On Fleek
Once the go-to term for perfection, particularly about eyebrows, on fleek now sounds outdated and overly enthusiastic. Having seen it plastered across social media, voiced by anyone with high beauty standards, and even used for retail campaigns and adverts, we’re so over it.
Adulting
What started as a humorous way to describe handling responsibilities has become tiresome. After all, paying bills and doing laundry are just part of life, right? We’re well and truly aware of the pressures and strains that come with being a grown-up, but we’ve heard this one to death.
Squad Goals
This phrase once celebrated friendship groups but now feels overly hash-tagged and a bit cliché. It’s also twee enough to make your stomach turn, particularly as we know that the aforementioned squad is probably scrabbling and squabbling behind closed social media doors. Not every group photo needs this caption. Make that your goal.
Bae
It took many of us a while to get to grips with this overly used phrase, but it’s short for ‘before anyone else’ or ‘baby’ in case you weren’t aware. How they discern between the two, we’ll never know. This term of endearment has lost its charm, and using bae now feels more cringe-worthy than cute. We thought it was the sound a sheep made.
Sorry Not Sorry
It was a fun and cheeky way to express unapologetic behavior at first, but the phrase now comes off as passive-aggressive and insincere. Feel free to use it, but you might find the recipient on the attack if you use it too often.
Turnt
Turnt was initially used to describe being extremely excited or intoxicated. It was also used to highlight the most wonderful feeling in the world. If you were feeling turnt, you were having the best time. Given that so few people even understood its meaning, it hasn’t lingered for too long. It has made its way into several rap songs, however.
Lit
If you go to an amazing party or a brilliant music gig, you might say it was lit. If you’re intent on consuming copious amounts of alcohol at the said party or gig, you might plan on getting lit. Either way, lit has become so overused that it's lost its spark.
Throwing Shade
This phrase for subtle insults has become so mainstream that it's no longer the clever insider slang it once was. It was thrown around in the world of celebrity, with one famous person constantly throwing shade on another. The media soaked it up and used it half to death, and now we’re throwing shade on it.
Bye Felicia
This dismissive farewell from the movie Friday became a Millennial staple but now feels forced and overdone. It also doesn’t help matters if you’ve never seen the movie, as you’ll have no idea what someone’s talking about. On the flip side, we’re more than happy to say, “Bye Felicia.”
I Can't Even
The phrase barely makes sense, but it didn’t stop it from being a social media favorite. Expressing overwhelming emotion or exasperation, this phrase now just leaves people rolling their eyes instead of empathizing.
Basic
What was once a term to describe someone adhering to mainstream trends now feels, ironically, quite basic itself. In an added twist, the Millennials using it are the ones who are always on social media, adhering to mainstream trends. Go figure.
Yaaas
This overly enthusiastic agreement or celebration has lost its zest and now feels a bit exaggerated and tired. Sadly, it hasn’t ventured as far enough into the distance as we’d like, as the British digital TV platform Freeview has a kid's channel called, you guessed it, Yaaas.
Feels
Short for feelings, this term to express emotional reactions has been overused to the point of irritation. If you watch a rom-com and it leaves you all warm inside, you’ve got all the feels. It’s been overused, and we’ll be glad to see the back of it.
Goals AF
This intensifier for life aspirations is now seen as over-the-top and somewhat annoying. Simplicity in goals would be just fine. Who needs to AF their goals when having a goal is good enough? Millennials seem to like it, but the rest of us don’t.
FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out)
While it once encapsulated a genuine social anxiety, the overuse of FOMO now seems like an excuse to over-commit. It was one of the most popular Millennial phrases that bounced into all generations, but if we don’t hear it again, there’s no fear of missing out whatsoever.
Hundo P
A shorthand for “100 percent,” this phrase was never fully embraced and now just feels awkward and unnecessary. In truth, it sounds more like someone’s name or the make of a car.
Thirsty
While it usually means a craving for a drink, the Millennial take is craving attention, and sometimes of the sexual variety. However, if you keep liking someone’s posts, you’re thirsty, and that’s according to the person writing the posts. Poor logic. It now feels more like a desperate plea for slang relevance than anything else.
Woke
Originally a term for social awareness, the term has been so overused that it often feels diluted and meaningless. Woke has proven to be one of the more controversial of Millennial phrases, with politicians, TV personalities, and the media using it carelessly. Those who continue to use it are often seen as starting unnecessary conflict.
Epic
It was once used to describe anything remotely impressive, but its overuse has rendered it far from legendary. We’re quite happy to stick with classic adjectives to describe something exciting; at least they carry some essence of meaning.
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