This Professor Is Creating A Dictionary From All The Slang Terms He Hears His Students Use

Published 5 years ago

Like Demilked on Facebook:

With all sorts of new slang terms popping up each day, it can be hard for older generations to keep up. However, one teacher, James Callahan, came up with a creative way to make sure he’s always on par with the latest lingo – he started collecting all the slang terms his students use in something he calls the “Generation Z Dictionary”.

Callahan is a sociology professor at Lowell High School and his dictionary was recently noticed by one of his students who then made a Twitter post that quickly went viral.

h/t

One student recently noticed her professor is creating a “Generation Z Dictionary”

Image credits: mewtailv2

The professor keeps his dictionary neatly organized and has even color-coded it.

People loved Callahan’s creative idea and the student’s Twitter post already gathered over 573k likes and 165k retweets. “I’m just the catalyst. He’s the cool one,” said the student. “He should be on Ellen. Periodt, sis, take the L, this aint it, slay the game, were definitions given by my class.”

“I often overhear students in the hallways or my classrooms using words (or) slang terms in their personal conversations, in order to understand them better, (and) make a connection with them on a personal level, I started asking them what certain words meant,” said the teacher in an interview with USA Today.

Callahan eventually decided to share his dictionary with the internet

“Hello, internet! I hope this comes in handy! I’m happy to offer this to the world for free, but if you’re feeling philanthropic today, please consider two options that would greatly help the students of Lowell, Massachusetts. The Lowell String Project, and Mrs. Bauer’s Donors Choose page, stay up, Mr. Callahan,” wrote the teacher on a Twitter post.

“The typical teacher-student dynamic involves a rigid power structure, but in my experience, I’ve found that students are more engaged and perform better if I am able to reach them where they are,” said Callahan.

“Language is so fluid, and every generation creates their own vocabulary bank of slang, the students created it, I am sort of just the archivist!” added the teacher.

People absolutely loved the teacher’s idea

Image credits: BlvckCloud_

Image credits: Etienne_Knight

Image credits: Professor_Bauer

Image credits: lhs_sociology

Image credits: bizzarre_giogio

Image credits: traumvtic

Image credits: mewtailv2

Image credits: RosemaryAnnette

Image credits: NewVegasWhoDis

Image credits: endeverstar

Image credits: vivimontiel

Image credits: david_hecker

Image credits: BelmontSeo

Image credits: sixfour_music

Aušrys Uptas

One day, this guy just kind of figured - "I spend most of my time on the internet anyway, why not turn it into a profession?" - and he did! Now he not only gets to browse the latest cat videos and fresh memes every day but also shares them with people all over the world, making sure they stay up to date with everything that's trending on the web. Some things that always pique his interest are old technologies, literature and all sorts of odd vintage goodness. So if you find something that's too bizarre not to share, make sure to hit him up!