If your business is trying to “slay” content marketing but ends up looking a little too “thirsty,” we need to talk.
Staying relevant online isn’t just about posting regularly or nailing your hashtags, it’s about speaking the right language, and if you’re still thinking “lit” means well-lit or “POS” means Point of Sale, there’s a chance your content marketing is… well… cooked. 💀
In today’s internet culture, especially when marketing to younger audiences (hi, Gen Z and Gen Alpha 👋), the line between trendy and tragically out-of-touch is thinner than ever. Emojis don’t mean what they used to. Acronyms are minefields. Even the humble 🍑 emoji can derail your brand voice real fast.
So, before you launch your next campaign, make sure it’s not giving HR violation.
Brush up on your lingo with a content crash course on what to say and NOT to say in professional content, unless you’re trying to go viral for the wrong reasons.
Acronyms
Acronyms are a minefield of double meanings. So, while it may save time and syllables, as a rule of thumb, double check acronyms with urban dictionary before building your brand and content around it.
| ORIGINAL | THEN 🦖 | NOW |
| DTF | Direct to Film / Department of Treasury & Finance | Explicit meaning |
| NSFW | – | Not safe for work |
| POS | Point of sale | Piece of **faeces** |
| NBD | Next business day | No big deal |
| STI | Short-term Incentive (NO Finance Bros – find another way to say this) | S3xually Transmitted Infection |
Emojis
Despite its innocent roots, these days, even the most innocent icons come with fine print.
Key take away: Honestly, just avoid most fruit and vegetables – they’re ruined.
| ORIGINAL | THEN 🦖 | NOW |
| 🍆 | Eggplant | For professional reasons we will not be defining these. Just avoid them if possible. |
| Peach | ||
| 🤤 | Drool, for tasty food | |
| Tongue | ||
| 💦 | Water droplets | |
| 🍃 | Leaves | |
| Corn | ||
| 🍒 | Cherries |
Everyday words
| ORIGINAL | THEN 🦖 | NOW |
| Lit | Well-lit | Intoxicated |
| Caught in 4K | High-definition video | Caught red handed |
| Salty | Lots of salt | Annoyed/sour about someone or something |
| Tea | A nice beverage | Hot gossip or news |
| Cap | A hat | A lie |
| No cap | No hat | The truth |
| Cooked | Made food | To be defeated/destroyed |
| Cooking / He cooked | Making food | Doing really well |
| Drip | Water drip or / annoying boring person | Fashionable outfit |
| High key | Grammatically incorrect | Opposite of being lowkey |
| Gas | State of matter | Threat to defeat someone |
| Slay | To kill a beast | Commending someone for thriving |
| Thirsty | Craving hydration | Desperate (inappropriate edition) |
Phrases
| ORIGINAL | THEN 🦖 | NOW |
| Ate that (& left to crumbs) | To have eaten | Did a really great job |
| “It’s giving.” | Not a full sentence | “It” is delivering a strong positive message. |
| “It’s giving *insert word*” | Grammatically incorrect | Used for comparison to something similar |
| Touch Grass | To touch grass | An insult usually thrown at people to remind them to get real, spend some time outside |
You don’t need to speak fluent Gen A to Z to connect with modern audiences, but you do need to know when you’re about to post a landmine.
Slang shifts, emojis evolve, and yesterday’s “clever” caption might be today’s viral oopsie.
That’s where we come in.
At Focused Marketing, we help brands build content strategies that are smart, on-brand, and t you the tick of approval from all generations, so your message hits the mark without losing its cool.
Contact us today for content that slays.
Gen Alpha Approved ✅