From OG to Aura What Happened to Our Language?
I have to tell you what actually gave me the idea for this.
I was listening to Mr. Modi’s recent speech at the centenary celebrations of Shri Ram College of Commerce in Delhi, and I suddenly heard him using words like “OG” and “flex” while talking to the younger generation.
And I thought…
Okay. I need to know what is going on here.
I mean, when the Prime Minister himself is keeping up with Gen-Z vocabulary, using social-media language and connecting with youngsters in their own style, you really can't afford to be completely clueless.
And honestly, I found it fascinating.
Not politically.
Linguistically.
I love languages. I love watching them change. A word gets borrowed from somewhere, an old word suddenly gets a new meaning, somebody shortens something, somebody turns it into slang, and before you know it, millions of people are using it.
So naturally, I started looking into this.
And I have to admit, I actually enjoyed it.
For those of us who grew up in the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, the change is quite something to watch.
We have seen several generations come and go, and every generation seems to have developed its own little language.
Then came Gen Z.
And now Gen Alpha.
And honestly, I sometimes feel that Gen Alpha didn't exactly enter the world.
They logged in.
They arrived with an iPad, Wi-Fi and a vocabulary that the rest of us apparently forgot to study.
Take OG.
In our time, that could easily have been somebody's initials.
Now it means someone original, legendary or respected someone who has been around long enough to earn the title.
Then there's flex.
We used to say
Don't show off.
Now
Bro is flexing.
Very efficient.
Then came rizz.
Basically charm. The ability to attract or impress someone.
We might have said
He has a way with people.
Now it's simply
Bro has rizz.
Language has become economical.
Then there is delulu.
Someone is living in a fantasy world?
She is delulu.
Done.
And then we have cooked.
This one took me a little while.
If someone told me, You're cooked, I would naturally wonder what happened in the kitchen.
Apparently, it means you're in trouble, you're finished, or things aren't looking very good for you.
Then there's NPC Non-Player Character.
Someone who seems to be going through life on autopilot.
And then we come to aura.
This one is actually quite fun.
You can gain aura.
You can lose aura.
You can apparently have negative aura.
At this point, I am wondering whether I should start keeping an aura ledger.
And then there is mewing.
This is where I realised I still had some catching up to do.
Apparently, it's all about the jawline.
Our generation took photographs.
This generation has jawline management.
Now imagine all of this happening inside one family.
Grandpa asks
Can someone make me a cup of tea?
The Gen-Z grandson immediately says
Grandpa wants to spill the tea?
Grandpa
No! I want to DRINK the tea!
Grandson
Okay, Grandpa. Vibe check passed.
Grandpa
What exactly are you checking?
Before anybody can explain, the four-year-old walks in with an iPad.
Hi guys! Welcome back to my vlog! Today we're reviewing three outdated humans.”l
Dad
Put that iPad down!
Child
Dad, you're being cringe.
Dad
What?
You're acting like an NPC.
Dad
What is an NPC?
Child
Exactly.
At this point, the adults are cooked.
And I'm standing there thinking:
When did this happen?
But that's the interesting thing.
It isn't really new.
Every generation has done this.
Every generation has had expressions that made the previous generation wonder what on earth everyone was talking about.
The words change.
The technology changes.
The slang changes.
But the basic human instinct doesn't.
We all want to belong.
We all want to sound current.
And, let's be honest, we all like to impress people a little.
Which is probably why I didn't stop at simply understanding these words.
I learned a few.
Why not?
If I've spent all this time researching Gen-Z slang, I might as well use some of it.
So now I know enough to say:
“That's fire.”
“No cap.”
“Bro has rizz.”
And, when absolutely necessary:
“+1000 aura.”
See?
I started this little exercise wanting to understand the younger generation.
I ended up learning enough to flex a little myself.
No cap.
But what I really love about all this is what it tells us about language.
Language never sits still.
It keeps moving with us.
The expressions of the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s became the expressions of later generations, and now we're watching OG, flex, rizz, delulu, cooked, aura, NPC and mewing become part of everyday vocabulary.
Some of today's slang will disappear.
Some of it will stay.
And some of it may eventually end up in dictionaries.
Which brings me to the question I really want answered:
What is the next generation going to say?
I honestly have no idea.
Maybe they won't even speak.
Maybe AI will speak for them.
Maybe they'll communicate through holograms, emojis or some technology we haven't even imagined yet.
And one day, perhaps some child will look at me and say:
“That's so 2026.”
And I'll probably smile.
Because by then, I'll have done my research.
I've learned the slang.
I've earned my aura.
And I'll be ready for whatever comes next.
Because that's the joy of being a language lover.
You don't have to understand every new word immediately.
You just have to stay curious.
We thought we were the bridge between generations.
Apparently…
we are the subtitles.
And honestly?
I'm perfectly happy with that.
No cap.
A little note about this piece:
This is a collaboration between Suja & ChatGPT.
Original idea, thoughts, humour, skit and creative direction: Suja
Research, information, explanations and writing assistance: ChatGPT
I brought the ideas and creative direction; ChatGPT helped with the research, information and wording, and I reviewed and shaped the final piece.
And yes, even this note was written with a little help from ChatGPT.
