“Do anyone else’s kids talk like morons?”: Mom utterly baffled by Gen Alpha daughter’s lingo like “so mid”

A Reddit thread from a parent who can’t decipher her Gen Alpha daughter’s slang—phrases like “my bad chat” and “so mid”—has reignited the eternal generational language war.

The parent claimed their child “talks like a moron,” prompting thousands of commenters to weigh in on whether kids today are actually getting dumber or if adults are simply aging out of the cultural loop. The rise of social media has severely accelerated the rate at which language evolves, leaving the olds more baffled than ever before.

It’ll happen to you.

Chat, the kids are inventing new slang again

A recent post on the U.K. version of Ask Reddit lamented that the OP can’t understand what her young daughter is saying, and they’ve decided this means the kid is less intelligent.

“Do anyone else’s kids talk like morons?” the Redditor asked.

After gaining 6,600 upvotes and 2,300 comments, the OP deleted her post, but the internet preserves all.

“I’m not old, not really, but I have absolutely no idea what my daughter is saying half the time,” the post read. “‘My bad chat’ ‘So mid.’ She sends me messages like ‘chat I need a bus ticket.’ She says it’s because we are chatting but I said it’s like walking up to someone and saying Talk before you start your sentence.”

Those who are not old, not really, will likely recognize this usage of “chat” as a common part of streaming content. Streamers often interact with their audience in the chat room section, where viewers air their opinions on what they’re watching or argue with each other, referring to these folks simply as “chat.”

Gen Z quickly adopted this as a way of humorously addressing others in situations outside of streaming. Calling a single person “chat” is funny because an audience of one can’t chat with anyone.

Terms like “chat” and “mid,” by today’s standards of slang acquisition, are actually pretty old now. New colloquialisms seem to pop up daily, leaving kids vulnerable to trickery.

“Anyway I just told her that Yak Yak meant ‘yeah ah know’ so we’ll see if that makes it into their vernacular. I have another daughter who doesn’t talk like this at all and is equally confused,” the Redditor concluded.

“You’re getting old”: Reddit reminds parents this happens to every generation

In between Reddit commenters trying to explain what “chat” means in Gen Z terms, many pointed out that every generation is doomed to grow older and start griping about how kids these days act and speak.

“I used to be with it, but then they changed what it is,” wrote u/mrhippoj, quoting Abraham Simpson.

“You’re getting old, dude. I’m sure you and I both said loads of stuff that sounded stupid when we were kids. Every generation creates its own language of slang, and with how popular streamers are with kids, none of this surprises me.”

“If the cildrenne of everye generatione diddeth notte speeche like moronnes we wouldde stille speke like yonne,” u/holytriplem pointed out.

Others offered suggestions for how to curb the kid’s behavior.

“My son is into this Italian brainrot nonsense,” said u/Current_Fly9337. “I walk into his room and say ‘good morning ballerina cappucina’ it’s suddenly not cool anymore and I don’t have to listen to made up crap.”

“Just do what mums of my generation did and parrot their nonsense back to them with a mild hint of menace,” suggested u/CoffeeandaTwix.

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