In Australia, the phrase “sick” is used in slang to mean “that’s fantastic” or “wow – that’s so cool”. One kid might reveal the gift they got for their birthday, for example, and all the other kids say, “that’s so sick!” Another kid might come a cropper off their skateboard while trying to do a trick-jump, and all their mates will whisper admiringly; “siiiiiiiiiiick!”
Perhaps it’s not even an Australian thing. Maybe crazy kids are saying it everywhere. Slang is always contagious. I’ve got no idea where it came from or how it happened, I can only assume that it’s typical of the contrary-culture of youth ‘these days’.
No really, kids have always loved to push the boundaries and do the opposite of what’s requested, and so I suppose it’s no surprise that something ‘bad’ went through the slang-machine and popped out the other side meaning ‘good’. I don’t even know why I’m trying to analyze kid’s talk, let’s be honest, I’m in my 50s and slang is designed to be impenetrable.
Like, no cap, everyone loves rizz right, because it’s so lit!?
Apparently, it’s totally normal that one of my daughters says “yo bro” to me when she walks into the house, and the other one says “thanks slayer” as I pass her some food over the kitchen counter. The all-time worst evidence of this sort of shenanigans that I have come across (so far), is my 16-year-old daughter putting my mobile phone number in her phone under the heading “spawn point”. Nice. I can’t even begin to imagine her friends’ faces when I ring her, and her mobile’s lying on a coffee table saying “spawn point” as it rings out. Ugh. Worse still, I don’t even know what my profile pic is on that thing…
Now, as an adult, it’s pretty much a given that you’ll look like a fool if you try to steal their slang. Have a go at saying “sick bro” when your kid shows you a good test result and you’ll get a grimace. Say “unlucky boss” when they tell you about what went wrong at school that day and you’ll get slumped shoulders and a turned back. Or when they slouch away, whisper to their retreating back “you’re so cooked” and see if you can’t score a Medusa*-styled death glare.
Trying to use their slang back at them is as cringey as an excessive reliance on Dad Jokes.
[“Why did the doctor carry a red pen? // In case he needed to draw blood!”]
Anyway – I suppose I’m telling you this because it did occur to me the other day that as a chronic pain person there was something pretty cool about being a totally sick slayer. I’ll take it bro. And so should you.
Take care taking care, Linda x
*PS – if you’re new round here and have some time to burn, there’s a short story called “Medusa” about just such death glares (and worse) in my Gothic Migraine Short Stories (free PDF download here).
The Mindful Migraine 
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