English edit

Etymology edit

teen +‎ -speak

Noun edit

teenspeak (uncountable)

  1. (derogatory or humorous) Communication by adolescents viewed as slangy, awkward, or immature.
    • 2011, John Ross Bowie, Heathers[1], page 51:
      "Righteous" and "dude" were part of teenspeak at the time, and had already been immortalized by another clueless adult, Grace, the Wite-Out sniffing secretary (Edie McClurg) speaking of the hero in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
    • 2011, Deborah Halverson, M. T. Anderson, Writing Young Adult Fiction For Dummies[2], page 175:
      Real teenspeak is a mess of ums, likes, you knows, tangents and runaway trains of thought that, when transcribed onto paper, are pretty much impenetrable.
    • 2013, Lucy Monroe, Million Dollar Christmas Proposal[3], page 107:
      [] "Nice to meet you, Mr. Tomasi. Thank you for the party tonight. That's just sick."
      "Sick means good in teenspeak," Audrey translated, before demanding, "What party?"