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I refer to the Opinion piece “ ” (Aug 4). The English language has truly jumped the shark these few years. If you think this metaphor is obscure, much of what is communicated online and IRL (meaning “in real life”; try to keep up!) by Generation Z nowadays tends to floor even those who consider themselves fairly well-educated. Every generation has its own quirks and Gen Z is no exception. Something as trivial as the length of one’s socks is serving as a marker of generational identity and this sartorial difference has been likened to a “sock war”. Any conversation on Gen Z lingo has to mention the recent brouhaha caused by the English electropop singer-songwriter Charli XCX. A Zoomer herself, she recently dropped her sixth studio album titled Brat. Depending on one’s generation, the context in which the word is used and the relationship between the users, the meaning of “brat” can run the gamut from an entitled person (similar to the traditional meaning) to a term of endearment to a person with a mindset which is confident and unapologetic (think US Vice-President Kamala Harris, whom Charli called brat). Language constantly evolves and even if semantics broadly remains the same, there will be nuances that can make all the difference. It is by no stretch of the imagination that geopolitical complications can arise if meanings are not clear. Even if our interactions and relationships are far more pedestrian, all of us should try to keep up lest we be left behind, considered mid (mediocre) or, even worse, ghosted (ignored in interactions). And that’s facts, periodt.