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Teen talk in a tongue of its own

Kate Watson-Smyth
Thursday 17 July 1997 18:02 EDT
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Just because mother clicked treasure sconned on peeve there was no need to get so eggy. It's not as if he had enough snash to get any more anyway.

It may sound foreign, but a survey of 800 pupils aged 11-to-18 found the above is just one example of the way teenagers speak. It means she caught her child drunk and got stressed out, but there was no need, because he didn't have money to buy more. Dillons and Oxford Dictionaries did the survey to identify the latest terminology of the nation's teenagers.

When asked politely how one is hanging, it refers to one's state of well- being and the correct answer would be high (happy) or low (sad). After a bonkers (fun) day at the office, parents might describe themselves as buzzing or dogs (excellent) but if it has been a hard day they are likely to be chonged (tired).

Jennie Miell, from Oxford Dictionaries, said: "A similar survey last year reported a quite different set of words, which underlines how changeable teenage slang tends to be."

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