The Slang Americans Hate to Hear but Love to Say

By Allison Sadlier // SWNS
New York office - 646-873-7565 / usnews@swns.com
NEWS COPY w/ VIDEO

If you ever call your partner ‘bae’ or complain that you’re ‘hangry’ you’re officially using some of America’s most annoying slang, according to new research.

A new study examining the use and knowledge of modern slang by 2,000 Americans found the top 20 slang words that leave the average person irritated.

“GOAT” won the award for the most irksome slang term with “bae,” “hangry,” “Gucci,” and “ghost” rounding out the top five. Other dishonorable mentions included “stussy,” “TFW,” “totes,” and “clap back.”

The new survey conducted by market researchers, OnePoll, found people do think there is a cutoff age on using slang language.

Apparently, Americans are too old to use slang at the age of 43, according to the data.

One in four Americans think people who are over the age of 25 are already too old to use any form of slang at all.

And it can be hard to know the appropriate setting to drop a bit of slang into the conversation.

Thirty-seven percent found slang use in the workplace completely unacceptable and 55 percent were totally against using “lol” in an email to a boss.

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Nearly half of people surveyed thought it was not as bad to use “lol” when emailing a coworker.

OnePoll also took to the streets to test the American public on their slang knowledge -- with mixed results emerging in the video.

The study revealed that knowledge gap when it comes to slang is widespread -- over half of those polled didn’t know the term “ghosting” had a negative connotation and 55 percent didn’t think being called “on fleek” was a compliment.

Even gossiping could turn into a tricky business since 37 percent could not identify the definition of “spill the tea.”

The study also found that not knowing the full meaning or origin doesn’t necessarily stop usage. Forty-four percent of people worry about using slang incorrectly, but that doesn’t stop them from throwing out the trendiest lingo -- 46 percent admitted to using slang without fully knowing what it means.

It’s probably best to double check what the term means before using it in conversation since one in two people think it’s a bad idea to say a slang word without really understanding its definition.

There are some words that people love to throw around and feel confident doing so though.

“Bae,” “lit,” and “turnt” all made it into a list of the ten slang words people knew the most. “Keeping it 100,” “thirsty,” “fam,” and “SMH” also made the cut.

One in two people are not into the latest lingo seeing as 53 percent find slang annoying, but there’s definitely some words that drive people crazy more than others.

TOP 20 MOST ANNOYING SLANG:

1. GOAT
2. Bae
3. Hangry
4. Gucci
5. Ghost
6. Fleek
7. Stussy
8. TFW
9. Throw shade
10. SMH
11. Totes
12. Clap back
13. Turn up/turnt
14. Peeped
15. Thirsty
16. Lit
17. Spill the tea/sipping tea
18. Fam
19. Snack

20. Trill

MOST COMMONLY USED SLANG:

1. Bae
2. SMH
3. Lit
4. Fam
5. Hangry
6. Thirsty
7. GOAT
8. Keep It 100
9. Gucci
10. Fire
11. Woke
12. Turn up/turnt
13. Throw shade
14. Spill the tea/sipping tea
15. Fleek
16. Peeped
17. TFW
18. Clap back
19. Totes

20. Trill

SLANG THAT BAFFLE US THE MOST:

1. Stussy
2. Trill
3. TFW
4. Totes
5. Peeped
6. Spill tea
7. Snack
8. Gucci
9. Fire
10. Woke
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