You may or may not have heard words like “pebbles” or “parked” being used in Gen Z or Gen Alpha slang, but the origins of those words don’t actually come from either generation.
In fact, they all started as a joke from a millennial teacher who has been “gaslighting” his students with fake slang words.
Meet Sam Salem.
Originally from a Minneapolis suburb, Salem is now a substitute teacher in California by day and a traveling stand-up comedian by night.
But what started as an inside joke for his followers has since become something much, much bigger.
It all began when Salem posted a video where he created his own slang words with plans to trick his students into believing the words were a new slang being used by Gen Z and Gen Alpha.
“I used to be full time teacher, now I substitute teach and it is funny hearing all the the slang that students use and it makes me feel old and it’s like the first time in my life … where I’m like, ‘Am I old now? Am I, like, not understanding what the slang is?'” Salem told NBC Chicago. “So basically my thought behind like making up Gen Z-sounding slang was kind of like an inside joke for me and my followers, like the millennials who don’t actually know slang. So let’s, like, make up our own and make it sound like, ‘No, you guys just haven’t heard this yet.'”
The idea started off as a simple joke, but his first video quickly caught on.
“The first video that I did, I just, like most social media videos, I make the video, upload it, try not to think about it. And all of a sudden I wake up the next day and it has 5 million views in a day, which that’s more than I’ve ever had in a day,” he said. “‘Like it was crazy.”
The video then turned into a series and with each post new words were generated.
They included things like “feta,” terk,” “clipped” and more.
“It really I just will be driving around in my car commuting and one will just pop into my head and I’m like, ‘I’ll go with that one,'” Salem said.
Beyond the social media traction his videos received, Salem suddenly began hearing his made-up words used at the schools he teaches in.
“Kids start using it jokingly with me, but then, because they use it so often jokingly, they would actually use it for real and out here in the hallways. And it just kind of became part of their their everyday words,” he said.
But the prank went to another level when the words started making it onto even larger platforms — particularly the word pebbles, meant to reference something that is “easy.”
“Someone commented like, ‘Hey, they just said pebbles on SportsCenter. And I’m just like, ‘OK, you must have misheard,'” Salem said.
But they hadn’t.
Then, Phoenix Suns star Bradley Beal was heard using some of Salem’s made-up words during a press conference.
“He’s like, yeah, ‘We were watching film and it was all pebbles.’ So … that’s the craziest part about social media is, you know? You just put something out there being like, ‘Alright, this will be funny for myself and my followers and then all of a sudden it just took on a life of its own,” Salem said.
He even started receiving messages from people saying they heard coworkers or friends use words like “pebbles” in everyday conversation.
“It’s pretty fun not only to like see it on the big stages, but also hear from people that I hadn’t heard from in a while be like, ‘I heard it out in the wild. This is so crazy,'” he said.
But the series may not have a long-lasting future as Salem said his students are beginning to catch on.
“I have had it happen where, like, I’m then known as the guy who makes up slang. And so I’ve had students be like, ‘Hey, don’t try to gaslight us with your slang, man.’ Like, I’ll try to throw out a new word and then they clock it right away. So I’m not sure how much time I have making up slang with the with the schools that I consistently go to,” he said. “But since I’m a sub and I go to new schools every now and then, that’ll be where I really test out the new ones, I guess.”
While the start of the series began as a joke, Salem acknowledges there’s still an important message behind it.
“It’s just kids being kids. I think that’s the best part about it, about teaching, is just like, hey, I never want to be like the the older generation that’s like, ‘Why do you think this is cool?’ It’s like, yeah, there’s no reason why they think it’s cool. And that’s the best part about being a kid is they’re just being silly with their friends and using the terminology. And sometimes they do use it at my, at my expense. And you know what I’m happy to be the butt of the joke for sure.”
“Be nice to kids. I love you, Gen Z. Don’t be the generation that hates on the younger generation. Like every generation before them. Let’s be the one that, you know, uplift them,” he added.
Here’s a look at some of the many words Salem has used with his students:
Parked: To describe something that’s not moving
Pebbles: Easy. References smaller pebbles compared to big boulders or mountains
Terk: References a best friend, like Tarzan’s best friend Terk
Feta: Something is going poorly or crumbling like a piece of feta cheese
Scroll: Used to reference something you want to just scroll past
Fluttered: When someone is so excited about something it’s almost annoying. It references the sound of the fluttering wings of a butterfly
iPad: Used to reference someone who is “socially awkward”
Comma: “Tell me more”
Euro: References a “euro step” in basketball and is used to mean something you won’t let stand in your way
Dairy: Basic. References how new non-dairy options are trendier than dairy-based milk in coffee shops
Rug: Refers to “stRUGgling”
Costco: If something or someone is “doing it all”
Jar: References something being tightly sealed
Swirled: Similar to someone who is “hot and cold”
Nabs: The opposite of “bae.” Stands for “not anybody’s somebody”
Remy: References the rat from the ratatouille. Used to mean something that shouldn’t go together but does, like a rat and cooking food