When I was young, I used to cringe when adults made clumsy, if well-intentioned, attempts to speak in what they thought was “youthful slang” in order to make a connection with us.
Now that I’m one of those adults, I can’t tell for sure whether the message in this poster (which I saw in the Toronto subway yesterday) comes across to today’s net/text-speaking youth as clever or clumsy. I’m torn – should my reaction be LOL or WTF?
(And is it me, or does the expression on the guy’s face say BRB?)
From summer 2005 to the start of 2009, I was a member at a gym located a ten-minute walk away from home. The crowd is made up mostly of people in their 20s and 30s, presumably students, singles and the “yummy mummy” crowd, with students and homemakers making the lion’s share of attendees during business hours.
Here are the ways I was addressed at that gym:
I switched to the new gym not because there was anything wrong with the old gym, but because:
Before and after business hours, the crowd is made up of people from their 20s through 40s. During business hours, it’s the retiree crowd.
Here are the ways in which I’ve been addressed or referred to by my fellow gym members: