TALES OF A SUBSTITUTE TEACHER: The Vocabulary Lesson

When I sub, I give my all. And I usually like to get a little something back.

This past Friday I reserved the last 5 minutes of each class for my own education. And the 11th graders in English Honors and AP were happy to teach me some relevant vocabulary. I asked the students to imagine that I was 17 and had just awoke after being frozen for 20 years, that I was headed to a party, and needed some relevant words so that i could communicate with my peers and not be totally uncool. "Without using curse words or words related to sex and drugs, what are important words for me to know?" I asked.

A sample of what I collected.

They fed me about 20 words many of which require, or are best understood, with hand gestures and a certain tone of voice. I asked them for spelling and context. But as we all know, you don't ever get everything you ask for. Below is a partial list of what I got.

BRUH - the newest incarnation of "brother" and "bro",  not to be confused with actual sibling.

EXTRA - annoying, over the top. "Look at her yelling. She is so extra!"

FLAW- not good;  "That's so flaw!"

FOH - stop right there; get out of my face (put hand up to emphasize)

GUCCI - something that is really cool and stylish; "That's so Gucci."

JIT - an insult to call someone when they are being immature, whiny, like a little kid

RACHET - bad, yucky, ugly; "You're so ratchet!"

SALTY - angry, bitter; "Why do you have to be so salty?"

THIRSTY - hungry, greedy

TURN UP - Let's party; "Let's turn up."

YOLO - you only live once

For your entertainment (definitely) and comprehension (perhaps), my daughter Sammi has acted out some of these words.