Here are 12 phrases that make you sound silly. We know this might be hard to hear, but if you say some of the things on this list, it might be time to seek out some new vernacular.
Look, the internet is where you go to learn things you don’t want to ask about in person. So we’re out to help, not scold.
Anyway: Here are 12 phrases no self-respecting cool person would say.
Dope
We get it — sometimes you just need a word to express how dope something is. But in the year 2024, perhaps there are better words to express something’s dopeness.
Unless you’re The Dude himself, you can probably come up with something a little more eloquent than a word that literally refers to drugs.
We don’t know what that word is, but we encourage you to search within yourself and find it. Let us know if and when you do.
Snowflake
Nothing screams “old man yells at cloud” more than calling someone a snowflake — or worse, a special snowflake.
If you’ve ever called someone a snowflake, they were probably a college student studying liberal arts, and you were probably way older than them. Let the kids have their moment, okay? You had yours once, too.
This is one of those phrases that definitely make you sound uncool.
Adulting
This one is really aimed at all of the elder Millennials out there. That’s right. It sounds like nails on a chalk board when someone says they’re “adulting.”
Accomplishing every day tasks like doing laundry and making doctor’s appointments is probably not worth bragging about.
World Wide Web
The above photo from the ’90s is what you look like when you say the words “World Wide Web.”
Yes, that is what’s it’s called — but in an age where a lot of children probably don’t even know what the “WWW” in a URL stands for, perhaps we should stop saying it out loud.
This is another one of those phrases that definitely make you sound uncool.
LOL
This abbreviation has been around as long as the internet, but it might be time to retire it — or at least give it a break. Yes, it is a classic, and it will probably never truly die as long as people still type on keyboards.
But unless you’re using LOL ironically — and that’s a very thin line to walk — it’s definitely aging you. Come on, be honest. Were you really laughing out loud?
Mobile Phone
If you still say “mobile phone” in 2024, you probably had one of the phones that Patrick Bateman is holding in the above picture.
Come on people, just say phone! It’s not that hard.
Honorable mentions: Smart phone, telephone, and the dreaded cellular phone. The only place that can get away with saying “mobile phone” or “cellular phone” anymore is a poster at the public library that says “no cellular phones allowed!”
This seriously is one of those phrases that definitely make you sound uncool.
Lit
While technically this phrase has been in the vernacular since the 1920s, it’s changed meanings over the years. It used to mean “lit up,” as in drunk. But somewhere around 10 to 15 years ago, the kids started using it as another way to say “cool.”
“That’s lit!” they’d say, pointing to literally anything. Well, you shouldn’t. Just let it die already.
Awesomesauce
2012 called. It’s begging you to stop saying “awesomesauce.”
Truly nothing is more cringeworthy than this word. Please, please stop saying it. If it makes you feel better, just say “awesome.” We don’t need the sauce part.
Gucci
This is what you look like when you say “Gucci” to describe something cool or good.
It can be used in a myriad of ways: “Are we Gucci?” can mean “Are we good?” Or “That’s Gucci” can mean “That’s cool.” But saying the word Gucci has truly not be a cool thing to do since probably 2008.
FOMO
While it is a completely valid human emotion to have the Fear of Missing Out, this is the second worst thing you could possibly say after YOLO (You Only Live Once).
Woke
If you still refer to things as “woke,” we hate to break it to you, but you sound like a clown. And not in a cool Joaquin Phoenix kind of way.
If you’re on the left, using it unironically, you sound pretentious at best.
If you’re using it pejoratively, you’re admitting that you don’t have the vocabulary to explain what about something you find objectionable. We’ve noticed that people will often call a show or movie “woke” just because it features women, anyone not white, or anyone LGBTQ. What about acknowledging the existence of these people is a problem? Please explain.
“Woke” is the fanny pack of phrases that make you sound uncool.
Cancel Culture
Another of those hopelessly vague overused phrases that has come to be meaningless.
If you’re talking about someone losing a job because of some innocuous thing they tweeted, just say what they said and make your case. But many people who have done legitimately awful things just blame “cancel culture,” as if that absolves them.
Unless you’re Nicolas Cage in Dream Scenario, you probably have no business talking about cancel culture. It’s one of those phrases that make you sound uncool.
Liked This List of 12 Phrases That Make You Sound Uncool?
You might also like this list of Gen X Stars Gone Too Soon or this list of 15 Overused Phrases That Make People Sound Less Intelligent.
Main image: Elizabeth Hurley, who is cool, in Bedazzled. 20th Century Fox.