AIBU to worry my daughter is picking up too much slang?

[DeBore]

DS16 has gone to the local grammar for sixth form rather than staying private and we’ve noticed she’s picked up rather a lot of slang. Whenever she’s on the phone to her friends her whole way of speaking changes - the wide vocabulary we’ve given her just disappears and it’s all “like”, “literally” and “innit” 🙄
We don’t want to control who she’s friends with of course, but would it be nice if she at least spends some time with girls who speak well. Speaking properly opens so many more opportunities,more hireable in good jobs, higher positions later in life. You know what teenagers sound like nowadays… it’s rather grating.

I am 41. Mum of 2 and a business owner. I speak 2 languages. Proper English and Scouse English! 😂

I 100% know who to use what words with. When slang is ok, when proper language is ok. I am sure the majority of people know how to do this too

Yes. I did not. And I know my children. They learnt not to say it elsewhere as well. It's just not in their vocabulary now.

Seriously speaking, @op Slangs are when you replace a standard word with a different word entirely, e.g., 'bog' instead of toilet, 'my bad' instead of, my mistake. I was looking forward to reading the slangs your dd was using (by the way, all teens regardless of education use slangs words). The examples you've given are just informal speech patterns not slang vocabulary -'like' is a filler word and 'innit' is just a colloquial contraction.

That's lovely.

Not exactly 'riff raff' at a grammar 😂

OP, when you went for a look round, you presumably were happy with the behaviour of the girls there? We looked round a local private and a local grammar, the grammar girls came across far better spoken in terms of their breadth of language, critical thinking, genuine well thought out answers to questions. The private ones it felt like they had been rehearsed and came out with stock answers, slightly robotic.

My 9 year old DC says 'bruh' and I find it hilarious. It's just kids, if that's the worst of it she's doing fine. You'll find she is very able to switch, and it's unlikely she'll tell her future employers 'innit'

God, yes.😀 And Miss Annersley saying ‘You can. The question is whether you may.’

Lowkirkenuinely.

Exactly what I was going to say, @DeBore. @Lurkingandlearning is wise.

Give me a break.

What everyone else has said!

My mum hated slang and was always threatening elocution lessons (she was one of those people from the Home Counties who move north and then are horrified when their kids have northern accents). She was always saying I'd understand when I had my own kids.

Said kids are teenagers now and I still love slang (to the extent that I have to moderate it a bit when I'm around their friends so I don't embarrass them (which I am easily able to do, as per all the previous comments on code switching!)).

Unsurprisingly.

“That’s boss, that” 😜

Yes lad 😂😂😂😂

😂🤣 Ahh bless, you keep telling yourself that 👍

Fee-paying school is the cat’s pyjamas.

Cor blimey, be affectionate to a duck.

Again. I do know my children. They are grown adults now and talk normally.

You do not know everything about your children. No parent does.

Yes, it's possible that they never used any of the language you despised even when not with you. But it's equally possible that they did. And if they had done so, you would not have known. And either way, they would have still grown up to "talk normally" as adults.

😂

She’s just a child trying to fit in.

Don’t most people change the way they speak according to the situation? I never say ‘for fucks sake’ when I’m at work for example. I don’t believe that you have never adjusted your vocabulary to suit the situation.

You have sent her there, those are the people that go now you are blaming her for trying to fit in.

One of my neighbours fostered three of her grandchildren. They moved from London and in with gran in Wolverhampton.

I picked one up from a friend's house, she said goodbye to her friend in a complete yam yam accent, got in my car and spoke to me in her London accent.

She's just fitting in with her peers.

If only Attack the Block had been released in 1974, life would all be so different