Two Nations Divided by a Common Language

[Debbifan]

That's a quote from George Bernard Shaw I believe, concerning England and the US. I'm reminded of it because I have been drawn to continue Mastergepetto's story in Humiliatron's contest. An intriguing premise set in a Washington DC high school.

I'm running some ideas through my head already but I suspect my dialogue may be a little more bland and stilted than I normally strive for. Why ? Because I have no idea how contemporary US high schoolers would talk and what slang is current ! Not to mention that the entire US education system is a bit mysterious to an English mind. I always have to look up what age is represented by what school grade. And what's a coed ? ( I presume a female student at a mixed sex school or college ? )

So I guess my characters will be using a less colorful mid Atlantic vocabulary and I'll have to be careful not to slip in a stray knickers, slag or slapper !

[edithdick]

Also remember that there is no ‘s’ at the end of ’math’ if it comes up.

If you really want to catch up on American vernacular, there must be some American TV, oh sorry, “tele” shows available where you live.

[Executionus]

Because I have no idea how contemporary US high schoolers would talk and what slang is current ! Not to mention that the entire US education system is a bit mysterious to an English mind. I always have to look up what age is represented by what school grade. And what's a coed ? ( I presume a female student at a mixed sex school or college ? )

Coed means mixed boys and girls, since way back in the past they used to be segregated. If a person is called a coed, then it's a woman. All other uses simply mean mixed. It's not a common word anymore since almost everything is mixed by default. A coed bathroom though would be unusual enough to warrant the word.

Truthfully you can never go wrong with curse words or crudeness, used in almost every setting and situation. An American teenager will call their best friend things like "Hey assfuck!" or "Yo crotchsniffer!" more often than you'd expect, and it gets even more colorful when referring to enemies. Crudeness is seen as more "adult" so teenagers aim for that often. Counterculture is everything, so young Americans want to do the exact opposite of whatever the previous generations want them to do. American teens often act like narcissists, because this overconfident attitude attracts the other gender. If you act like you're the kingshit, then others will assume that you are as well. Fake it 'til you make it.

Some common slangs among young people now:
Cap = bullshit. No cap = not bullshit.
Drip = hot outfit, mostly used for guys. "Check the drip!"
Accountant = slut for money.
Fam = short for "family", but is used to mean "good friend" 99% of the time.
Cancel = blacklist. If you are cancelled by the community, you practically don't exist and everyone will treat you poorly.
Stan = likes someone romantically/sexually. Can be used third person to stan two other people together, like shipping.
Simp = A simp is a stan who goes too far. Simps are mocked for being obsessed or blind to a person's faults.
W and L = shorthand for Win or Loss. These are used a ton even if they shouldn't fit. Seeing somebody naked would be a W.
Salty = jealous or mad. Extremely common insult.
Snack = hot person. Thirst = sexual interest. Honestly anything to do with food and drink is now slang for sex in some way.
Sus = suspicious. If a person is sus, you can't trust them.
Extra = somebody who tries too hard, usually standing out excessively because of the extra effort. Agent Greene might get accused of this.

Woke = politically aware, specifically relating to leftist issues like human rights. Being that this is set in Washington DC, wokeness would be a HUGE focus and come up often. This word is extremely divisive. Leftists (which will be over 90% of a DC high school) are hugely in favor of it. Conservatives (and Russians) hate it utterly and use the term as one of the biggest insults possible. If a conservative or Russian agent calls somebody "woke", the meaning is that "This person is stupid enough to believe the fantasy that human rights matter, unlike the real world where strength is the only thing that matters". Anybody who denounces wokeness or uses it as an insult is not likely to have any mercy, because mercy is seen as a woke trait. Faculty members who are secretly Russian agents could use this term to denounce anyone helping Greene.

Our culture is obsessed with strength, specifically masculine strength, and young people will attempt to front that they have high strength both physically and mentally. Being seen as beneath anybody else for any reason is the ultimate sin in American culture, including authority figures, so teenagers will go out of their way to display that they are free and independent (often to the point of self-destructive stupidity). Meanwhile others will try and place people beneath them, as dominance is tied to strength and is a way to advance yourself in status. For most of the population, strength is more important than kindness. The entire woke movement is trying to reverse that.

Freshman is the first of four high school grades, 14-15 years old. They are treated like actual children by the upperclassmen half the time, and associating with them is seen as a fault. Because teenagers are constantly trying to look older, it's considered a huge insult to compare an older teen with a freshman.

Sophomore is the second of four high school grades, 15-16 years old. That age is obsessed with cars because that's when Americans first get the power to drive them, and there's a huge culture around mischief where parents can't watch now that the teens are free to drive themselves places. Chris Butler in that story is in that range.

Junior is the third of four, 16-17 years old. That's where Agent Greene is pretending to be. These are known for trying very hard to be seniors, despite being too young. They are kinda the "middle" group even if they aren't technically in the exact middle.

Senior is the fourth and final age, 17-18. These are the elites, the kings and queens, and 90% of the school faculty, sports, and events cater to them. Every underclassman seeks to live among the seniors, seeks to date seniors, tries to go to senior events, that sort of thing. Seniors themselves often gatekeep access to senior events, mostly because they had to wait themselves to get here so they want the younger teens to have to wait too.

[Namb]

I have the same issue. My granddaughters are of the appropriate age, but we only get to see them about once a year. That's the problem when you have a whole continent between you.

I simply loosen up the screw on my grammar filter and tone down the vocabulary. As someone else explained to me, the players we pretend to be are not the readers of our story, Our readers are probably just as clueless as we are.