10 Popular Slang Terms of 2020
We live in a world dominated by social media, memes and a mind-boggling lingo that is ever changing.
Even though slang words have been in existence for centuries, and unique to particular groups of
people, the rate at which new words and phrases enter people’s vocabulary has increased tremendously
over recent years thanks to the internet. Here are some of the popular slang words that have been
doing the rounds in 2020:
1.Extra This is a word used to describe a person or situation that is overly
dramatic,needlessly exaggerated or just plain over the top. If someone spends hours on end gossiping
about others only to follow it up with “but hey, who am I to judge?”, you can say that they’re just
being way too extra.
2.Flex To flex means to knowingly boast about, flaunt or show off something - can be
a possession, a skill or a status symbol - to feel good about it. ‘Flexing’ on people is widely
considered to be insincere and arrogant.
3.Cap/no cap The word ‘cap’ in this context is used to imply a lie or an untruth. If
someone follows up a statement with “no cap” it means they’re trying to convince you of its
authenticity, whereas if someone wants to point out that a specific person is lying, they can say
“don’t fall for his cap”.
4.Lit The word ‘lit’ is used as an adjective to describe something that is exciting
or awesome or just plain old enjoyable. If you had a good time at a party, you can say “that party
was lit!”
5.Basic Referring to something as basic means it is way too common or mainstream.
The word is also used to refer to people who do things that are stereotypical and unoriginal. For
example, “She’s so basic, everytime she buys coffee from Starbucks she uploads a selfie with her cup
on Instagram!”
6.Salty To be salty about something means to be unnecessarily irritated, upset or
bitter over a minor issue. For example, “he’s just salty because I beat him at poker.”
7.Lowkey This word is used to imply slightly, secretly, discreetly, modestly or
quietly. If someone says “I lowkey hate his guts” it means they don’t like this person’s brazenness
but they’d rather keep such an opinion to themselves or prefer not to assert it openly.
8.Thirsty Being thirsty refers to behaviours that are characterised by an intense
and often shallow need for attention, approval, validation or affection or all of them combined. For
example, “he’s so thirsty he’s spamming his selfies in all the group chats he’s in.”
9.Simp A simp is a person who goes overboard trying to please or impress others. The
term is typically used to refer to men who become overly submissive to women in the hope of getting
her attention and/or affection in return.
10.Yeet The word ‘yeet’ is used to express excitement or surprise. It is also used
to refer to the act of throwing something at a high velocity. Examples: “I got 10/10 in the test.
Yeet!”, “watch me yeet this Coke can into the dustbin!”