Youth language: How TikTok and Co. are revolutionizing slang

When Thorsten Sträter wants to make fun of his son, he'd say things like, "Son, heir to the empire, what's going on?" Or, he likes to say, "I kiss your heart, bro!" Because he hates that. For "slowly fading comedians" (Sträter, 58), there's no more reliable way to trigger embarrassment than to harass his 21-year-old offspring with misused youth slang. "It's the last joy I have left."

One thing is certain: so-called youth slang hasn't been this enjoyable in a long time. After years of rather dull, reduced youth slang to the essentials ("What's up?" - "Yeah, I have to"), contemporary adolescent communication has long been flooded with lyrical, colorful imagery full of glowing pathos, fueled by TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels. Wallah, I swear to God!

"You saved my life, brother, on honor, hey!" a student recently praised me after I picked up his wallet from the floor and returned it to him. Mind you, I didn't drag him, exhausted, out of a swimming lake, or snatch him off the edge of a train platform at the last moment. I didn't revive his mother, nor did I vouch for him for a million euros at the bank. I just found his wallet.

But it's the tone of the moment. No more years of taciturnity among adolescents—pompousness and oaths everywhere. In every schoolyard, on the tram, in the supermarket, underage adolescents sound like baroque poets, only with (often artificial) accents:

“You are my soul, bro, I swear!”

“Dude, I kiss your eyes, see you tomorrow!”

“May Allah grant you ten houses!”

So it goes back and forth. Friedrich Schiller meets Kontra K. Even Christian high school students wish each other "May Allah protect you, Habibi!" But young people do what they please, in language just as in every other area of life. Or as the pathos expert Schiller wrote in "The Death of Wallenstein": "Youth is quick to grasp words, / Which are difficult to handle, like the edge of a knife; / From their hot head they boldly take / the measure of things that judge only themselves."

What's going on? The tendency toward linguistic exuberance among young people obviously has its origins in migrant cultures, where love, friendship, gratitude, and closeness are expressed in much more vivid language than in the precise, yet technocratic, and metaphor-poor German language, Schiller notwithstanding.

Brother in spirit: The poet Friedrich Schiller (1759-1805) in a painting by Anton Graff.

Source: Archive

German youth are embracing the trend – and often use terms like "Inshallah" ("God willing") or "Wallah" ("By God!") with irony and humor. Thus, a multicultural linguistic amalgam of Arabic endearments and Western bromance poetry emerged, which has reached far and wide social circles.

“I die for you, my sunshine!”

“Inshallah! You spoke like a lion!”

“God bless your mother!”

In particular, the enchanting "thank you" synonym "I kiss your eyes" (Turkish: "gözlerinden öperim") has had a spectacular career – from the Turkish migrant community through social media and hip-hop culture into the German mainstream. The expression was already up for election as "Youth Word of the Year" in 2018, but the "Ehrenmann" (man of honor) ultimately won.

Many of the expressions that sound commonplace and self-evident in their native language acquire a cutesy opulence in the German translation. This is precisely what makes them so successful here. Why have all these phrases, which deal with "respect" and "honor" in a rather cheesy and sentimental way, become so popular among German youth? Because, as linguistic stopgap measures, they fit perfectly into the present.

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In complex, difficult times, personal connections are of vital importance, and not just for younger people. And being able to hide behind the facade of not meaning things literally is a clever way for guys to express love and affection for their friends—without exposing themselves to the still-taboo suspicion of being a softie or even an "emo."

Dressed as sugar-coated irony ("I carry your pain, brother!"), love between guys is also relatable to the less-than-macho. Because irony, as we know, is the art of not meaning it, but somehow meaning it, just in a different way. It's basically the cartoon version of affection: so exaggerated that it doesn't embarrass you, because it can't possibly be meant literally.

Linguists call this kind of speech, shaped by migration and mostly urban, a "multiethnolect." The community itself continues to refer to it as "Kanak Sprak," a term coined years ago by the German-Turkish writer Feridun Zaimoglu. Today, "Kanak Sprak" is experiencing a flourishing that was unimagined at the time.

Anti-immigration campaigners naturally see this phenomenon as a threatening sign of the impending decline of the West. In reality, the lavish imported slang serves more as a cheerful cultural boost.

In the past, a large number of English expressions were absorbed into the German vocabulary—a normal process. Today, it's Turkish and Arabic expressions. What's new is that the slang is now being used far beyond traditional ghetto milieus, and in its ironic form ("My life against yours, brother"), it's even increasingly found in academic circles, where people have long strived to socially distinguish themselves with a kind of linguistic "purity law."

Feridun Zaimoglu, a German writer with Turkish roots, coined the term “Kanak Sprak” years ago.

Source: Marco Ehrhardt

In tone, the Turkish-Arabic language cult of friendship resembles one much more northern: Many Irish blessings from the Celtic tradition also employ a similarly nutrient-rich, dramatic language: "May the road be kind to you, may the wind always be at your back, may the sun warm your face and the rain fall softly on your fields..."

Where in Protestant, sober northern Germany one might at most mutter, "You're a good guy...", young guys on the bus now babble: "Brother, only God knows what I would do for you!" To untrained ears, this sounds like a threat. In reality, it's a delicately veiled pledge of loyalty.

It's about friendship. Not in the sense of a comradely loyalty born of male-bonding esprit de corps. Rather, it's a deep, non-sexual soulmate connection that, with wit and chutzpah, fulfills the male desire for a straightforward escape from loneliness.

“I give you my soul, bro!”

“Your aura kills everything, my heart!”

“I kiss your forehead, but with respect!”

Male friendships are often also escape zones: Many a classic guy practically thrives in the emotional security of a buddy relationship. There's no threat of a problem-solving conversation, no Julia Roberts movie, no arugula salad. It's an escapist fantasy with a long tradition: Even Plato in ancient Greece considered deep friendship to be the most fulfilling, most valuable relationship a person can have.

It's all the more surprising, then, that so many men continue to struggle with approaching their emotions unironically. Until puberty, boys talk quite openly and frankly about feelings, fears, and the importance of friendships, according to US psychologist Niobe Way. At 15 or 16, this changes abruptly—boys suddenly claim they don't need friends and can manage on their own. The lone wolf imprinting begins.

"During this time, boys learn what masculinity means," writes Way. "And the most important unspoken rule is: Avoid anything feminine." This makes not only intimate relationships but also friendships difficult for the rest of their lives. This is precisely the gap that Arabic poetry about friendship fills.

Commentary on the Shell Youth Study

Because the guys' plight is great. Women have best friends, they hug each other, hold hands. But men, especially white, middle-aged men, are sociologically the loneliest people in the world. No other group has fewer close friends, no other group has a more permeable social network. The opportunity to finally express one's love for one's buddies via the Kanak Sprak detour is all the more welcome.

And so, all over Germany, last shirts, hearts, and souls are being given away with relish; mothers and men of honor are being praised; foreheads and eyes are being kissed; people are being "granted," "died," and "blessed"—it's a joy. Inshallah, everything will be well! May God bless your mothers, and your souls are golden. On an honorary basis.