Employee hilariously shows how men aged 48-75 in her team take her help to use slang words correctly

Over the years, the English language has been constantly tweaked with each generation inventing their own vocabulary and meanings. One has to stay updated, otherwise, what they casually say might be taken with a totally different meaning. Many Gen Z and Gen Alpha terms have been making their rounds on the internet. An X user, The Meanest TA (@MeanestTA), shared some time ago how her teammates aged between 48 and 75 years asked for her help every time they used new slang phrases. But in return, they also helped her understand how formal speaking works.

"Everyone on my team (5 men ages 48-75) texts me to make sure the slang they’re using is correct in the context," she mentioned in a thread from their account which has since been deleted. The employee shared several instances where she helped out the Gen X and Boomers. For instance, when her 74-year-old boss inquired, "Can I say this meeting got lit if I mean people were getting upset?" the employee responded, "No, but you can say they were salty about it." One 58-year-old co-worker, whom she referred to as "Work Dad," wanted to know what "yeet" meant and the woman shared a clip to explain the slang to him. A 48-year-old project manager asked if the term "hella," was still in use and the worker replied, "Not in this state."

Sometimes, the older employees also needed assistance to deal with their teen kids. The project manager wanted to know how to tell his 17-year-old daughter not to wear a crop top to his mother’s Sunday dinner - but not in an offensive manner. So, the employee said, "Bestie, respectfully, no." Also, their boss asked them the meaning of "tea," and emphasized, "not the liquid." The young worker explained, "Background information, but more like gossip. Spill the tea means informally contextualizing." So, when the boss wanted to ask the CEO to "spill the tea" about a project, the young worker was curious about his reactions. After knowing this fishy business of learning slang phrases, the CEO asked the young employee, "Did you teach the boss the phrase, 'spill the tea?'"

Despite knowing the recent trends in the English language, the employee needed help with professional communication. They wanted to know how to politely convey that a meeting was "a waste of time," and that they weren't "paid enough to deal with it." So their boss suggested the line, "Can you provide me with a meeting agenda so I can ensure my presence adds value? I want to prioritize my schedule to support our most urgent needs." To imply that someone's idea was stupid, their "work dad," suggested, "I think there was a disconnect, can you restate your definition of this concept so we can ensure there’s no miscommunication?"

When it came to expressing frustration in the most formal and composed manner, the older workers were striking it big. The young worker asked, "How do I say I am not your secretary?" and one of them replied, "I’m going to redirect you to (name) for assistance on this particular task." For the current generation out there who doesn't want to be "patronized," and undervalued at work, the project manager recommended the line, "I appreciate the clarification, however, I do have the subject matter expertise to manage this on my own." To imply "Fight me," the employee was asked to say, "I think we should discuss this offline." Surely, it was a two-way road for the woman and her senior teammates.