An article in 'The Daily Mail' yesterday was entitled :
'Good news peeps, there's an app to translate da kidz' slang'
For those older peeps in the fam who want to know what da kidz in their endz are thinking, a sick new app may just hold the key, innit.
Apparently, in an effort to narrow the generation gap, the over-50's Group, 'Saga', is to launch a mobile phone application to translate teenagers’ slang. The ‘Woteva’ 'app' will :
* be available by the end of Summer and translate 100 words or phrases.
* help parents and grandparents to 'stay in touch with youngsters' and will be free to download to a smart phone, or similar hand-held device.
* make the following translations :
Dr Ros Altmann, Director-General of Saga, said:
* "To some parents and grandparents, it can feel that the next generation has a language of its own. A translator seems like the obvious solution to prevent the generational gap from widening".
* "This app will provide people with the opportunity to stay connected with youngsters, and nurture relationships across generations".
* "In our estimation around 5% of all words currently in use in the English language are completely alien and indecipherable to people born before the 1960s."
The article elicited the following e-mails from :
Becki in Wigan :
'LOL. I'm 20 and didn't have a clue what most of them words meant. Also, how many of the older generation use a smart phone in the first place?!'
Craig in East Calder :
'omg, i wsh ppl wd stp usn txt spk, fgs'.
Charles in London :
'I have an even simpler method.....I reply..."sorry....I only speak English". That usually does the job pretty well'.
P.S. I begin to wonder if 'April Fool' jokes have come early this yar.
