Social media didn’t ruin millennials. Copious participation trophies didn’t ruin millennials. A bad economy didn’t ruin millennials. Spell check ruined millennials. Spell check is the original “Google it.” Spell check meant we no longer had to educate ourselves with those cumbersome dictionaries. An angry, red squiggle under a word just meant we had to click spell check and accept the change. No learning necessary. We relied on spell check like the crutch it is and continued to embrace technological improvements.
Then instant messaging came along and we couldn’t even be bothered to spell words out anymore. We created an entirely unique language. It started with simple shorthand, a BrB here or a G2G there transitioned into idk which morphed into LOL and before you know it we couldn’t even be bothered to say carpe diem because Latin is dead, JSYK. We coined YOLO, which really makes me SMH. But ladies and gentleman, YOLO isn’t just an acronym, it’s a lifestyle. OMG, we also aren’t original; I stole that YOLO line from my sister.
For Boomer’s with exploding brains right now, here is a collection of commonly used and some absolutely awful millennial slang.
YOLO – You Only Live Once
OMG – Oh My God
LOL – Laugh out loud
IDK – I don’t know
IDC – I don’t care
G2G – Got to go
BrB – Be right back
BTW – By the way
(sometimes spoken as B-T-dubs)
DTF – Down to F%&$ (you can credit Jersey Shore for popularizing that one)
# – It’s not just on Twitter. “Hashtag” is also spoken, semi-ironically.
FML – F!*@ my life
JSYK – Just so you know
SOML – Story of my life
SMH – Shake my head
(This may or may not have also happened to me…)
We aren’t the only ones using confusing shorthand. The financial world starting throwing down acronyms before millennials were born. As conversations about money develop, it’s important to understand the language of finances. Here are a few good-to-know acronyms and financial expressions.
ROI – Return on Investment
APY– Annual Percentage Yield
APR – Annual Percentage Rate
ETF – Exchange-Traded Fund
401(k) – A way to save for the future with salary deferrals and hopefully employer matches, check out my series here.
IRA – Individual Retirement Account (or Arrangement).
Roth – Contributions to an IRA or 401(k) which isn’t tax deductible, but qualified withdraws are tax free.
Net worth– The amount in your name once you’ve subtracted your liabilities from your assets.
Bull – In short, an optimistic investor.
Bear – The opposite of a Bull, Bears are “pessimistic investors.”
Mutual Funds
– “An investment vehicle that is made up of a pool of funds collected from many investors for the purpose of investing in securities such as stocks, bonds, money market instruments and similar assets.”
There are so many more, but I’m a millennial so I need to get back on my social media grind and catch up on my stories. As my posts start to take a turn towards exploring investing these terms and plenty of others will be explored.
(You Oughta Look Out…for future posts…SEE WHAT I DID THERE?! Click on the picture for an amazing digital short.)
What do you consider the most important financial acronyms to know and the most annoying millennial slang?
When we bought a house it felt like there was a whole new vocabulary and set of acronyms we had to learn. I’ve now ditched such knowledge from my mind, but I’m hoping it’ll be like a second language when it comes time to get back into the house buying/selling world again (hopefully in a year ago) – hopefully it’ll all miraculously come back to me!
I understand that feeling. It always seems not matter how much I learn I’m still so far behind! When I “grow up” and live in a city it makes sense to buy a home, I sense great blog post fodder.
OMG, LOL!!!
(Someone had to be the smartass!)
Well thank you for filling that void! 😛
Haha funny story, I made a joke to our programmer (old enough to by my father) and wrote “jk” after it, naturally, and he said “what does jk mean?” And I was like shoot! Forgot that I’m dealing with a different generation. Now he knows tho and I think he may have even used it recently haha
I texted my father “Idk” and he wrote back, “What does LDK mean.” Tried to save time and ended up having to explain myself…should’ve just written it out in the first place.
My biggest pet peeve millennial slang is FML. It just rubs me the wrong way. Your life isn’t that bad!
My fave financial term is probably Net Worth right now, because mine is slowly but surely climbing upwards. 🙂
I would say net worth is my favorite too. But, I do find bull and bear just entertaining.
I feel so cool, I actually knew what all your millennnial acronyms meant without googling anything 😀
LYLT #broke millennial 😉
So ashamed I had to look up LYLT! You may be a bubble millennial, but apparently you’re better than I am!
Lol…great post. I have to say I’m not overally annoyed when it comes to millennial slang since I am one, it’s when people actually say the short forms in conversation, that’s when I wince a bit.
Also bull versus bear markets is what bothers me the most, couldn’t it have been made much simpler and obvious? I had a discussion about it with my dad the other day actually.
I don’t mind our shorthand in texting, but in real conversation…COME ON! Unless it’s being used sarcastically, then I may give it a pass.
Nice. This list will come in handy the next time I’m trying to chase you kids off my lawn 🙂
Haha, we could probably come up with slang for crotchety old man. COM? I’ll try to make it a thing.
Most annoying YOLO. It’s the excuse they use for doing stupid things. I most important financial acronym P&L.
YOLO bugs me because it’s such a dumbing down of carpe diem. Why can’t we just use the proper term?
These all just hurt my brain. I was around when OMG and LOL started, but it has gone far beyond that. I have wanted to smack a few people that use that crap in conversations, like real conversations. Not cool. I hate almost all shorthand, but I think the best financial one is ROI. It is crucial!
ROI is indeed a great term. I don’t mind shorthand for note taking and the occasional text message. In conversation, I will yell “FRIENDSHIP OVER!”
I’m a terrible millennial! I totally didn’t know what JSYK and SOML meant. I hate YOLO but I have totally used it in posts because pop culture references are fresh, yo! (Yes, I did just say that)
I occasionally use “LOL”, but I stay away from the likes of “BRB”, “OMG”, and “ROFL”. My BIGGEST pet peeve is when someone says the shorthand in actual conversation. Like says “oh em gee” instead of “oh my god”. And I always yell at people for texting me in shorthand. Take the time to type it out or don’t speak to me…
Roth & 401(k) are my favorites because I have a Roth 401(k). I like what I know :).
#GreatPostRationalErin
I too have a Roth 401(k) and they are great terms both together and independently.
Good to know your hatred of shorthand. Duly noted for future conversations!
Hi there! I just found your blog, so I thought I’d say hi! 🙂
Great post! I completely agree with you – spell check hasn’t done the younger generation many favors. Of course, I’d hate to see it go away, but I already know how to spell 🙂 Maybe everyone should just have to pass a spelling test before spell check is enabled on their computer? 😉 J/K, LOL!!
Thanks for stopping by, Rachel!
I do like the spelling test idea idea before using spell check. However, I know I’d fail epically. Spell check ruined me!!
I LUV this post!
Oh man, LUV has got to be one of the worst. HOW HARD IS IT TO WRITE AN EXTRA LETTER?!
I can’t believe you included “DTF” on that list. It’s pretty funny though. Spell check doesn’t fix grammar errors usually which is a constant reminder of how dumb people are. It’s pretty obvious that most people don’t know the difference between their, there and they’re.
And watch out for couches, two words: Killing Machines.
YOLO, you better look out!
DTF just had to go on there. It’s so fricken dumb. I do notice the rampant misuse of your and you’re and their and they’re in emails at work. Really irks me.
A friend of mine will automatically defriend anyone who misuses your and you’re in a Facebook status. I think it’s a great litmus test.
I wrote IMHO to a coworker who was just about 20 years younger than me. I had to explain “In my humble opinion”. It was from writing on Usenet in the late 70’s early 80’s. Then I had to explain what Usenet was, and that I wasn’t calling her a HO.
I actually just recently learned IMHO/IMO.
I too would need to learn what this Usenet is you speak of.
IDGWTOWAIYEUSMTEI!! -> I don’t get what the obsession with acronyms is, you end up spending more time explaining it!!
Hahaha, well played Michael, well played.
Sometimes my case managers send me text messages that are so abbreviated and acronym’d (yeah I just made that up), that I can’t even understand what they are trying to tell me. I guess I’m super lame.
I think they’re super lame. I can’t imagine sending short hand messages in a professional context. Even as a millennial, I think that sounds incredibly out of place.
I would go with ROI since that’s always a good thing to talk about. I really dislike all acronym slang – you wouldn’t believe I’m a millennial. I absolutely can’t stand when people abbreviate things or use shorthand. My bosses send emails out with “u” and I just stare in disbelief. They are also notorious for bad grammar and there’s been multiple instances of not comprehending a sentence or two that they’ve typed.
The occasional use in text messages I’m okay with. But I always spell out “you” or “okay” (I won’t even do ok and never kk).
That’s the second vote for ROI. I agree it’s pretty fantastic.
Haha, love the comparison back to the financial world. And I’m only 28 but I still didn’t know most of those acronyms. Thanks for the education!
I know I still have a ton to learn. Just picked a few of the more commonly used expressions I figured my peers wouldn’t know. I also asked around for suggestions!
My mother recently found out that LOL meant Laughing Out Loud. She thought she was saying Lots of Love. I just cracked up. I was like so now it makes sense when you would say…”I’m sorry your flight is delayed. LOL”
She isn’t the only one…
http://static.someecards.com/someecards/images/feed_assets/4d6c21debf1ae.jpg
Another one that didn’t survive the jump form Usenet – SWMBO
An endearing reference a man would use for his wife, “she who must be obeyed.” In context, it’s used as “I had my eye on a new tablesaw. When SWMBO realized I’d be able to save enough money by building the new wall unit she wants to more than pay for it, she told me to do it.”
By definition, it wasn’t teen text, as few teens were on usenet and SWMBO didn’t really transfer to ‘girlfriend.’
YOLO is my favourite 😛 I write with this word BABY and it’s sound YOLO BABY xD