Do you have ‘steez’? What the teen slang term means
The term "steez" is making a comeback with the younger generation.
According to Urban Dictionary, "steez" means "style with ease" and it can refer to somebody's unique style.
Two ways you can use the word are by saying, "You know my steez" or "That skater has steez."
According to Dr. Kelly Elizabeth Wright, assistant professor of language sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, "steez" emerged from hip-hop culture in the 1980s and '90s.
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"'Steez' is often attributed to Gang Starr, which is a rap duo. They have a 1998 song called 'You Know My Steez,' she tells TODAY.com. "But the first attestation that I found was in a song by Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five from 1982."
The song that Dr. Wright is referring to is Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five's hit song, “It’s Nasty (Genius of Love).” In the tune, rapper Kidd Creole says, “I’m a lady’s man, I don’t have a lot of women hangin’ on my steez / Only one fine lady, that you better believe.”
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Then, "steez" came to the forefront once again when skiers and snowboarders used it to describe how effortlessly they performed tricks on the slopes, according to Outside Online.
The term has since been flying under the radar and recently made a comeback with the Gen Z and Gen Alpha audience.
Wright says she believes young people like to say "steez" because the word "really has a lot to do with just being who you are and celebrating yourself."
"Young people use slang or informal terms to really create themselves as growing adults," she says.
As for how people can stay up to date on all the latest teen slang terms, Dr. Wright says the first step is to "get into the spaces where these words are being used. So that might mean listening to hip hop uncritically, getting on Tiktok, follow hashtags or just listening to your children and observing the way that they're using language."
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