Random as an Adjective

Grant, we got an email from Wendy. She’s an English teacher in Louisiana, and she had her students write an autographical poem recently.

And when asked to come up with four words to describe themselves, she writes, many used random as an adjective.

She says she asked her students about the meaning of random, and she looked all over online.

And what she’s trying to figure out is, is random a hot teen word right now, and what do they mean exactly when they use it?

Do you use that, Martha? Do you use it that way?

No.

Do you mean?

Okay.

Not at all.

This is something that I’ve known about for quite a while.

As far as I know, it goes back to the early 1990s, probably the mid-80s.

It’s one of those things that’s very difficult to track because random is a fairly common word in normal usage.

But among young people, and it’s not a teen phenomenon so much as, I’d say, people in their teens, 20s, and 30s probably know it best and probably use it most.

And it typically means unusual or weird or odd.

And there are some different contexts for it where its meaning can vary.

But slang tends to be very flexible in that regard.

So if I just said, last night I met this random dude at this bar, well, if I talk about a random dude, I mean that he was odd and he probably talked to me in a way that you wouldn’t talk to strangers or he behaved in a way that really wasn’t normal.

So I’m actually – it’s kind of derogatory.

But if I describe myself as being random or if you say something to me and say, well, that’s random, what I just mean is that’s weird.

Maybe it’s a non sequitur.

Maybe it’s abnormal for you to say.

It’s out of the ordinary for someone to say.

So weird or odd generally will cover most of the bases.

Well, that’s interesting that all these students are describing themselves as random.

You can see how a teenager might not want to be perceived as knowable, right?

Teenagers want to think of themselves as a bit of a mystery, maybe think of themselves as being complex.

And so if you describe yourself as random, that means that you’re not a simpleton.

Huh.

So this word ended up evolving without my noticing.

Where did it come from?

I think it’s a perfectly normal outgrowth of the regular meaning of random.

If you think of random behavior, it can kind of go both ways.

Random behavior is odd or unexpected behavior.

And then if you use it more and more, the idea that it’s odd and exclusively odd or exclusively weird tends to take hold.

I’ve heard teenagers say, that’s so random, but I had no idea that you could use it in that way.

Yeah, well, it tends not to be the straight up meaning of random when they use it that way.

Although, in your mind, you might be able to make it work.

So, yeah, random.

I’m not surprised you haven’t heard of it, Martha.

It’s definitely a word for, no offense attended, the younger set.

It’s pretty common.

Most young people in high school are going to know it.

The only reason I probably know it at my age is because I study slang for a living.

It belongs to a specific group, and we’re not a part of it.

You’re such a random guy, Grant.

Thank you, doll.

So are you.

We’ll take any random caller.

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The address is words@waywordradio.org.