24 Outdated Slang Terms Parents Are Still Using, And I'm ROTFL (2024)

Recently, I asked the BuzzFeed Community to share the outdated slang their parents still use. The results had me rethinking my entire vernacular:

1. "My dad is a boomer and says 'holler at me.'"

—fireferret19

2. "My mom still says 'on fleek' like it’s 2015 or something. Like girl, stop. Please. 🤦🏼‍♀️"

—redprincess20

3. "Da bomb!"

—harpo123

4. "'Not happy Jan.' Aussies will know what I’m talking about."

—alicer47d52d55b

5. "I still say 'rad' and 'awesome' because I’m old, and I am perfectly comfortable acting my age."

—RachelE99

6. "Get with the program."

—legoforest

7. "'Groovy.' I'd given it up between the '70s and '90s, but then I started using it again."

—chamilton5280

8. "Want a cookie?"

—folklore_girly

9. "My dad says, 'coolio, hoolio' and I have no clue what a 'hoolio' is."

—Anonymous, 21

10. "I told my mom a story ONCE in like early high school and described something as 'all that and a bag of chips' and now every story she tells, she uses that phrase. It's been more than ten years, Mom. You can find a new phrase."

—pasteltrout84

11. "Describing something as 'bitchin'."

—buffcat

12. "When my mom wants to prove she's still down with the kids she tells me, 'C'mon, I'm Jiggy'"

—Anonymous, 26

13. "Cool Beans."

—fancygiant92

14. "She doesn’t say it too much anymore, but when I was growing up, my mom would say, 'Ew! Gross me out!' if she thought something was disgusting. Apparently, that was something she and her friends would say all the time in the '60s and '70s."

—Anonymous, 31

15. "My mother-in-law says 'cray-cray,' and I die a little each time she does."

—Anonymous, 41

16. "Crap. My parents say this to convey displeasure with something or having to use the restroom. It’s so gross, and when I hear it, I feel as if they are using foul language out loud, especially when we are out in public. Just yuck! Why? Oh, why can’t they find another word!?"

—Anonymous, 47

17. "'Close but no cigar.' My parents say it all the time, and I hate it. What even is it supposed to mean!? What, I almost had a cigar? I don’t want a cigar, Dad. I want Eras Tour tickets."

—Anonymous, 17

18. "My mom still says, 'That's hot,' when she likes something."

—Anonymous, 12

19. "My mom uses too many for her own good, but the most often used she says are weird things like, 'ain’t no thang but a chicken wang.' Or, if someone asks her 'what' she’ll reply with 'chicken butt.' My dad is not better he says 'what’s cooking good looking' and 'what’s crackalackin' daily. He said the last one when he met my boyfriend for the first time and pretty much whoever he meets or greets."

—Anonymous, 20

20. "My dad says 'out the yin yang,' and it cracks me up every time because what does that even mean LMAO."

—Anonymous, 21

21. "Whenever my dad does anything, he says, 'Let's boogie.' I don't have the heart to tell him how bad it sounds."

—Anonymous, 34

22. "My husband (54 years old) uses the word 'Swiz,' which is not necessarily outdated but drives me crazy because he just made it up and has been trying to use it with our kids forever (kids are 12 and 17). It’s supposed to mean the same as 'rad' or 'awesome' used to mean when we were kids. I guess it’s like 'fetch' in Mean Girls because I feel he needs to stop making 'Swiz' happen. Strangely, my two kids like it more than me. They think he can do no wrong, though."

—Anonymous, 49

23. "My dad (he's early Gen X) always uses Gen Z slang (rizz, bussin', lots of 'bruhs') to try to 'fit in' with us (all three of us are very late Gen Ys and find Gen Z slang annoying), and I always use millennial slang (radical, tubular, dude) to annoy him."

—thelimabean

24. "My dad is Gen X, and my mom is a millennial, but they both say 'sus,' and it’s embarrassing."

—Anonymous, 10

Is there slang your parents still use that belongs in a time capsule? Comment below!