When asked to speak proper English, people initially think of Shakespeare. In reality speaking proper English doesn’t mean twisting your tongue trying to say the longest word, its saying words that are found in the common dictionary most English classes have.

Nowadays people think they can get away with words like; swag?, yolo?, bruh?, yet?, bae?, hashtag?, selfie?, twerk?, bb?, ratchet??, waking up flawless?? and many words that absolutely nobody over the age of 30 would understand. These words are now found in people’s everyday vocabulary, which is strongly worrying parents, teachers and the government. Most of these words originate from social media sites such as: Twitter™, Facebook™, Instagram™, Vine™, Snapchat™ and Tumblr™.

In a recent study, Harvard University has released that in the year 2030 many used words and phrases like: hello, how are you, may I, you look good today; will no longer be used and be replaced by words like sup, what’s good bruh and looking good bae. Many schools and governments have now created a campaign that brings awareness to those with lack of vocabulary known as Speak Like a Regular Human Day. This day encourages those whom need help, to speak as if they were speaking to their grandparents, using proper English and no slang words.

Last year, Texas and Virginia became the first states to legally ban the use of slang words—with a fine up to $3,000 if not respected. This has sparked a debate in the United States and has been brought up in Canada as well. Many agree that modern slang has gotten out of control and others believe it is freedom of speech and will not take over their speaking habits.

Felicia Jones, an American woman made tabloids and cover stories due to her toddler whom said was never to speak, said his first word on live TV. The mother was gently caressing her child’s face then out of nowhere the child fiercely threw himself onto the ground. While falling down it exclaimed, “YOLO”. (The toddler is safe and continues to say YOLO each day.)  “We no longer need to keep this under control for teenagers, it’s an epidemic for babies too,” Oprah Winfrey commented. She also brought this subject up on her newest television show.

swag: someone with style, has swag

 yolo: popular song lyric by Drake, means You Only Live Once
 bruh: way of greeting or expression
yet: basketball slang for a three pointer or expression used while throwing something
bae: means Before Anyone Else, used to call boyfriend or girlfriend

hashtag: #, used to tag on almost every single social media site

selfie: picture taken by photographer of themselves, used on Instagram
 twerk: butt shaking and popping dance that’s sweeping the nation
bb: short term for baby, can be used as bae
 ratchet: act of looking messy or undone
waking up flawless: popular song lyric of Beyoncé
“If a recent study shows us that newborn babies will know the entire albums of Drake and Beyoncé before even being out of the womb, babies should stop being born.” Oprah’s comment started a controversy and has got the whole world wondering, is she right?

But it is not only the slang used in rap videos or social media that is exaggerating the evolution of mankind, it is also the short cuts used in texting. It was reported last year that 30% of Canada had no idea that cuz was not an actual word and meant because. This has come to the attention of many parents. Last Christmas, the most popular gift was a dictionary. Indigo reports that about 1 000 000 dictionaries were bought last year just in December, beating its average 24 dictionaries bought in the whole year.

Students are asked simple tasks, in school, like to describe the feeling of lava in correct English, but are incapable of doing so. Many comment: it’s like popping the molly, sweatin’??. They do not understand that in the real world, at job interviews or public speeches, you cannot say these types of things.

Many after school classes are, in a way, tutoring our youth to speak proper English. They read books like A Midsummer Night’s Dream and when asked to comment on their learning and comprehension, they answered, “Well some dude like loves his bae but her friend loves her ex bae and he be snatching the dude’s bae, and then some ratchet donkey like hits up his bb. In the end its all swag tho, cuz they find their baes and the donkey like peaces outta there and they do a ghetto play with some wall and it all good cuz.” If it isn’t apparent enough, teens should be able to answer the question with English words and more descriptive. This is just one other example of the thousands and thousands of essays teacher’s receive each year.

Our Prime Minister Stephan Harper was recently asked to speak of this problem at an education convention. “If only you could see this problem, it is absurd. We are looking at a country’s people turning into grammar zombies. This is not acceptable and we will not stop until the problem is resolved. We have high hopes that with everybody’s collaboration we can stop these off fleek?? comments and bring the world back on point.” Stephen Harper has not made any more comments after this incident and has not been seen by the public in two months, rumors say he is in speech rehab.

It’s not hard to speak normally, using normal words. Sure it’s fun to have an inside vocabulary with the internet, friends and teenagers, but if you don’t get out of the habit now, it might be too late. So go on and try not say any slang words for one day. You’d be surprised to see what kind of swaggy things you can achieve.

 Popping the Molly, I’m sweating: Molly is a type of drug by taking some you’ll be sweating (popular song lyric)
Fleek: well done, on point