You don’t have to travel to feel like you’re in another country: sometimes just listening to a conversation between them is enough teenager. Words like “jijear”, “lore” or “migajero” appear frequently in the language Youth speech already many Parents That worries them. But before you turn on the alarm and respond with the normal Speak well!It’s worth knowing how this jargon can be an opportunity for rapprochement, learning and growth.
One place where they put this into practice was the Colegio San Ignacio, a Jesuit educational institution based in Montevideo. In order to teach language interactive, the teacher of the communication and society curriculum unit, Felipe Fossatisuggested to his ninth graders that they create a glossary of terms representative of the way they speak. The idea came about in 2024 and was implemented for the second time this year.
“Young people tend to distance themselves from the adult world in search of their own identity, and one of the expressions of this search is linguistic distancing. This is not a bad thing, it is natural,” said Fossati. Instead of despising it Youth languagethe teacher used it to motivate young people to explain the meanings using a formal and lexicographic register used in dictionaries.
In this sense, the academic director of the school said, Veronica Walesioargued that youth slang wasn’t a problem and that the real warning light was when teenagers didn’t communicate at all. As a mother, you understand that listening to them like this can be an opportunity to connect and have new conversations.
“Young people at all times have had their own jargon. In reality, the problem we face today is the excessive use of devices, which hinders communication between peers and between young people and adults,” he said.
For Fossati, it was very interesting to see how the students discussed the way they spoke, how they negotiated meanings, how they agreed on which words were slang and which were not, and how they developed the ability to define concepts formally, with precise and succinct language. The process enabled them to learn the language in its context, “as a social practice rather than an isolated sign system.”
They reviewed the existing word types – adjectives, nouns, verbs, etc. – and understood what kind of definition each word required. For example, “devour” is a verb and as such its definition must begin with a verb at infinity, as the teacher indicated. Here’s what they did in the glossary: ”Perform an action in an outstanding manner, far exceeding expectations.”
In addition to the Development of language skillsGalesio appreciated the space for reflection that came from the exercise. “Many of these words are full of judgment and prejudice and all of this becomes clear when you discuss and define them,” he emphasized.
Below are some words and definitions that are part of Colegio San Ignacio’s “Small Glossary of our Jargon 2025” (the work also contains etymology, examples and synonyms for each concept).
By Tatiana Scherz Brener
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