In the 70’s it was the classic, “psychedelic;” throughout the 80’s, it was “bodacious.” Each of these terms was created by adolescents of the era and each is a representation of society during the time. History has been created through these slang terms, which remain predominate in the influences of today’s society. How are the teenagers of today leaving our mark? How are the latest slang terms creating the history of our soon to be past?

I’m sure all of you have heard it walking through the halls, standing in the lunch lines, or sitting in the library: the typical teenager complaining, “Dude, that movie last night was so gay!” The Webster’s Dictionary’s fifth definition of the word "gay," reads, “homosexual; also: of relating to, or used by homosexuals.” Obviously a movie does not have a gender, and therefore it cannot have a sexuality. Yet, somehow, the word gay continues to be inappropriately used by many adolescents of today.

Everyday numerous teens use the word "gay" incorrectly, referring to almost anything and everything. By using this word freely, teenagers are demonstrating ignorance, inconsideration of others, disrespect, and a lack of common intelligence.

One possible reason behind the sudden overuse of the word could be certain teenagers' desire to fit in. Many adolescents are willing to do what appears to be a little thing, such as using a word it seems everyone is using, in order to gain supposed popularity. This “little thing” is not as little as it seems. For instance, if people started using a religious term in the use of slang there would be a decent amount of hostility and conflict. Just as in religious terms, the impulsive use of the word gay can be taken as very offensive and simply rude.

Is this how we want to be portrayed in the future? Is this how our generation wants to be represented? It is evident that there are countless words that can be used in order to display expression and description. While not all teens have fallen under this fad of offensive and narrow-minded word choice, many need to pick up a thesaurus and expand their vocabulary horizons.