Now, a dictionary that reveals secrets of teen slang
4 Jan 2008, 1322 Hrs

The book 'The A-Z of Teen Talk' has been written by 13-year-old Lucy van Amerongen for the benefit of an increasingly bewildered adult generation.

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London, Jan 4 (ANI): All those puzzled parents struggling to understand their teenage kids' slang language can now take a breather, for a dictionary has been written to shed light on the strange mumbo-jumbo of teenagers' talk.

The book 'The A-Z of Teen Talk' has been written by 13-year-old Lucy van Amerongen for the benefit of an increasingly bewildered adult generation.

The Cheltenham Ladies College student from Box, near Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, compiled a list of 300 words or phrases and their meaning over the course of a year.

The dictionary includes words like - 'vanilla', which means boring; 'jamming' means hanging around, while to 'tear' is to leave quickly, or run away.

A 'za' is an abbreviation for pizza.

Staying cool, or 'book', is vital so it is important to be familiar with words such as 'antwacky' or unstylish; 'hench', meaning tough; 'rago' meaning ok; and 'zip', which translates as yob.

Amerongen designed her book to help the 'rents' or 'mouldies', otherwise known as parents to understand what the teenagers were saying.

"I hope this will clear up a lot of confusion for other families, and it's a great feeling to see my name in print," the Telegraph quoted her, as saying.

"My favourite word has to be vanilla but more and more phrases come up everyday. I love languages, and I think some parents don't give teenagers enough credit for some of the words they use. A lot of them are very creative," she added.

The book went on sale in September and more than 3,000 of the initial print run of 5,000 have already been sold.

Ingrid Parris, a spokesman, said: "We are thrilled with how well it has done for Lucy." (ANI)