Braintree High School - Wampatuck Yearbook (Braintree, MA)

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Teen Slang 19

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Tlow, Isn ' t ' Ghat Just Special? s it “t’sup?” or “how are you?”? Is it “what a nerd!” or “he is a social reject”? Is it “let’s veg” or “let’s hang around and do absolutely nothing”? People accuse youth of speaking their own private language of codes and phrases that are just gibberish to adults. The secret code - teen slang. Actually teens are just continuing a process that began with the first man - the dynamics of language. Words and phrases have always adapted and changed to suit the people who use them. Because a favorite past- time was chilling out in front of the tube, new phrases were continuously derived from television. A commonly watched program, “Saturday Night Live”, generated such well-used expressions as “isn’t that just special’’, “that’s the ticket” and “I’m outta here.” Other phrases were used to categorize groups: nerds, smoothies, hicks, and bomars. Still others described states ol mind: veg from the verb to vegetate, t’sup? from the; phrase what’s up? The verbal shorthand ol ' teen slang was rarely puzzling to an insider, but made little sense to anyone else. 18 Teen Slang

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20 Friday Afternoons EMPTY Braintree hallways on a Friday after- noon were sure to be free of traffic. CAR Brian Ward looked as though he had a good weekend to look forward to. ALL SMILES Heather Perette and Kellie Ventresca were all smiles. Thinking about weekend plans put many stu- dents in a good mood. CRUTCHES If you were one crutches, you had built in excuse to leave early. C Lacey had an able helper in Chris Legg. T he blessed relief of T.G.l.F. was a popular thought that went through a lot of minds as Thursday end- ed. The weekend was almost here. No one had to wait much longer in nerv ous antici- pation for the week to end. “When it’s finally Friday afternoon 1 can go home and relax,” admitted Luann Pa- dula. “1 don’t have to wait for my bus because 1 can leave with my own car,” she contin- ued. “To me fall Fridays mean weekend football,” said Peter Gomes. A member of the soc- cer and baseball teams, Peter was also busy with other re- sponsibilities on many of his Fridays. “Going out with my friends is one of my favorite things to do on a Friday night. Usually our plans aren’t made until that evening,” explained Ka- ren Nevulis. Homework also played a part in weekends. Many peo- ple looked at Friday as a night off from schoolwork. “Home- work is the worst part about school and that’s why I like Fridays,” admitted Mike Mi- chaud. Going to night footbal games and going out with m| friends is what 1 do,” ex plained Rob D’Alto. “Alsc sometimes 1 work on Frida; afternoons,” he continued. A lot of people thought o the weekend as a time to re lax, but none could top Briai Doherty. “1 don’t get up unt; l;00pm on Sunday,” he ad mitted.