The other day, I took my son, Bubba to a clothing store so he could get a sweatshirt he wanted. The items in this store were all related to pop culture and computer gaming.
The sales associate came over to greet us, and noticed my son's baseball cap. It's this bright blue thing with the number 11 on it. I had no idea what this represented, and still don't, but apparently the sales associate kid knew exactly what computer game it was from.
This initiated a lengthy conversation. I will tell you, the only words I understood were, "a," "and" and "the." The gaming jargon and computer lingo were way beyond me. It didn't even sound like English.
When they were finished, I looked at my boy. "You understood everything he was talking about?"
He looked at me sideways. "Yeah, mom. Everybody understands it."
"Well, I don't," I retorted.
"Then you need to be educated in pop culture."
Okay.
What about you? Do you ever not understand gaming jargon and tech lingo that kids these days are talking about?
Before I go, I'd like to thank everyone who has signed up to be part of my book tour in the month of October. If you're interested in having me as a guest on your blog for the tour, you can find the information and sign up here.
And if you'd like to read a nice review of my upcoming book which is featured on the DMS blog, you can go here.
Hi, Sherry!
ReplyDeleteI wear a bright blue cap with an 11 on it to signify the level of my emotional maturity. :)
I'm guessing that Bubba's cap is not a nod to "Eleven," the mysterious girl character on Stranger Things.
Gaming is a foreign language to me. I would need to see a transcript of Bubba's convo with the clerk to determine how many words I understand (if any).
I looked up the significance of the number 11 and found various meanings. It could mean "beyond awesome" or it might be used as a laugh or taunt. It might also refer to Gaming Rule #11 defined as follows by the Urban Dictionary:
"He who becomes enraged during gaming, must regain control of themselves before communicating with people in the outside world. After smashing my controller in rage, I followed gaming rule #11 and took time to calm myself before talking to my mother."
It's all Greek to me, dear friend Sherry. Maybe Bubba can do a guest post to enlighten us.
Enjoy the rest of your week!
I like your idea of 11 representing mental age. That makes a lot more sense than anything. I asked my boy about the 11, but his explanation didn't make sense. If I was up on pop culture, I'm sure it would've.
DeleteI think they deliberately make their jargon as hard to follow as possible. But, like anything, you have to spend time learning it to follow it. I bet Bubba would play these games with you if you asked. That is, if you wanted to.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure he would show me, but I really have no time for it. I'm sure as soon as I figured one thing out, they'd come up with something totally different anyway.
DeleteI'm not there yet, but on my way. My kids are little, so everything is pretty much Disney-related in my life right now:)
ReplyDeleteThe golden ages. Kids are best between ages 5-9. After that, it gets complicated.
DeleteThanks, I'd rather stay uneducated!
ReplyDeleteIgnorance is bliss.
DeleteI can't say I know what 11 is from, but I can still keep up with some of it, I think.
ReplyDeleteI think you're a little younger than I am. If you grew up with computers and games, it's probably easier to keep up with it.
DeleteGood Lord! Think I'll be dumbfounded too. Great to be reconnected with you, Sherry! xoxo
ReplyDeleteOne can waste a lot of time playing games. I'm glad I don't have the interest. Nice to see you here, again!
DeleteIt's suprising what one can learn from their youngsters. Good story Sherry.
ReplyDeleteYvonne.
I can't wait to see how befuddled he will be when his kids are using jargon he doesn't understand!
DeleteDo you ever not understand gaming jargon and tech lingo that kids these days are talking about?
ReplyDeleteIn a word? No. Though I'm always eager to learn.
I have time constraints. I barely have time to keep up with everything I have to do. There's no time for learning gaming jargon.
DeleteI don't understand! Took me some time to even understand "LOL"! LOL! Big Hugs!
ReplyDeleteHaha! That's a good one! Big hugs back!
DeleteI'm hopelessly pop-culture deficient, so don't worry, you're not alone! XD
ReplyDeleteI figured I wasn't. I think most people my age don't have a clue about gaming. We didn't grow up with it.
DeleteMy nephews know a lot of jargon that I don't understand. lol
ReplyDeleteThey love messing with our heads though, don't they?
DeleteSuch an interesting post and today's kids are ahead of us through the jargon mastered like a pro.
ReplyDeleteI guess when we were kids, we had jargon our parents didn't understand. Every generation has something new.
DeleteUnless the "gaming" talk involves something like Scrabble, card games, shooting pool or the like, I'm clueless.
ReplyDelete