These days, there’s a lot of love for the 1990s, especially among younger generations, who fantasize about the last decade before smartphones and social media upended society. In fact, a 2023 study found that 60% of American Gen Z adults “wished they could return to a time before everyone was ‘plugged in.’” Kaity Broadbent, a microschool teacher and head of learning at Prenda, had a really fun lesson with her students by showing them the parallels in slang among Gen Zers, Gen Xers, and Millennials who were young during the golden era of the 1990s. The interesting thing about her lecture is that it showed how young people, regardless of generation, create their own slang terms for the same words. View this post on Instagram In her Instagram Reel, Broadbent bridged the generational divide by noting that “bruh,” a popular term among Gen Z and Gen Alpha, sounded different in the ’90s, when it was pronounced “bra,” like the ladies’ undergarment. Although the pronunciation is different, the meaning is the same. She put it in a sentence, asking her students to say, “Hecka tight, bra.” (It seems she substituted “hella” for “hecka” to be more classroom-appropriate.) She also introduced her students to the term that kids in the ’90s used to reveal they’d fooled someone: “Psych!” which is a shorter version of saying, “Psyched you out.” She then rattled off some of the ’90s greatest hits: “As if” (Cher from Clueless, you paying attention?) “You da bomb” — a phrase meaning that someone is great or incredibly attractive.  @aliciasilverstone Ugh! As if… I wouldn’t join TikTok. #Clueless #AsIf ♬ Ugh… As if – Alicia Silverstone She also noted that kids from the ’90s had their own version of one of Gen Z’s most popular slang phrases for questionable people or things. “So, instead of sus, we would say sketch,” she said in a very studious tone. “I gotta bounce” or “I’m outtie” means that you have to leave. Extra ’90s points: If you’ve ever said, “I gotta go, Audi 5-thou.” This takes the term “outtie” and merges it with a popular luxury car at the same time: the Audi 5000. She also noted that in the ’90s, your “crib” was your house, as evidenced by MTV’s popular show Cribs. @topwtf_ Sad that’s most of these are fake #mtv #mtvcribs #topwtf_ ♬ original sound – TOPWTF “Home skillet” and “home slice” are two phrases that Gen Zers probably wouldn’t naturally understand, but they mean the same thing. It’s an evolution of the term “home boy,” meaning friend, which became “homie” or “home skillet.” What would a ’90s kid say if someone was acting strangely or seemed confused about a situation? “You straight trippin’, G.” That means, “I believe that you are out of your mind, friend.” She then asked a big question that makes little sense in the smartphone era: Why would we say ‘411’? Because “You would call 411, and you’d pick it up, and that was calling information.” The post sparked a great conversation among the commenters: “This is all that and a bag of chips,” Kid joked. “We stopped saying ‘psych’ when I was in 6th grade and switched to ‘NOT!'” Amanda clarified. “This is both amazing and hurts so much,” Mads admitted. Broadbent’s lesson is a great reminder for older people to stop being annoyed by younger generations’ slang, because when they were young, their trends were pretty cringey, too. It’s also a great lesson for the young people out there: Be careful how you judge your elders; one day you’re going to be just like them. The post ‘Hecka tight, bra’: Millennial teacher bridges generational gap by translating ’90s slang to Gen Z speak  appeared first on Upworthy.