Guys, like…yeah…this stuff might actually be pretty important. Teenage vocabulary in peer interactions. Implications for teen AAC users

Figures & data

Figure 1. Friendship cells and participants.

Table 1. Participant demographic information.

Age n (%)		Language status n (%)		School type n (%)
12 years	1 (4%)	Monolingual	22 (88%)	Private	13 (52%)
13 years	5 (20%)	Bilingual	3 (12%)	Government	11 (44%)
14 years	2 (8%)			Home schooled	1 (4%)
15 years	17 (60%)

Table 2. The twenty most frequently used words, with frequency counts and exemplars.

Word	Frequency of word use (total)	Group use frequency (max = 7)	Tagliamonte (2016) category	Illustrative quotes, focus word italicised and bolded
1. Like	466	7	Filler Quotative	‘Yeah, I was like, like in Turquoise Bay.’ (filler) Group 1 He would be like ‘I can’t hear you’ (quotative) Group 6
2. Yeah/yep	388 (yeah) 20 (yep)	7	Abbreviations	‘Yeah, he’s in the Celtics if you pick that team… so it’s basically we pick certain teams.’ Group 3
3. Nah	113	7	Abbreviations	‘Nah he already made it, he made it then it failed, then he had to make another one.’ Group 5
4. Just	98	7	Adjectives and adverbs	‘Why do we just talk normally, but as soon as we are asked to talk like normal humans, we cannot.’ Group 7
5. Bro	92	6	Sentence starter/finisher	‘Bro, what was that?’ (sentence starter) Group3
6. Coz	79	7	Abbreviations	‘I think its coz like there’s too much for your Xbox to be handling.’ Group 1
7. Guys	75	6	Slang Sentence starter/finisher	‘It was fun because we were rowing like alongside you and you guys were like running’. (slang) Group 6 ‘Guys, let’s play Minecraft?’ (sentence starter) Group 4
8. Gonna	70	6	Abbreviation	‘And my mates said he’s gonna finally send the jumps that we were doin’ and we’re gonna do it.’ Group 2
9. Wait	57	7	Sentence starter/finisher	‘Wait, so no parachute or anything?’ Group 5
10. Shut up	43	6	Swear words	‘Shut up…you’re colour blind.’ Group 4
11. So	42	6	Sentence starter/finisher Intensifier	‘So, I went on it the last day we were there’ (sentence starter) Group 7 ‘Look at the frame railing! That’s so bad’ (intensifier) Group 5
12. Oh my God/God	40	6	Slang	‘Oh my God, they’re trapped, they’re trapped.’ Group 5
13. Fuck	38	6	Swear words	‘And oh my God, the fuckin’ lightning storms over there, fuckin’ crazy.’ Group 6
14. Mate	37	5	Sentence starter/finisher Slang	‘Mate, why did you just back off?’ (sentence starter) Group 3 ‘They are like good mates.’ (slang) Group 1
15. Pretty	34	7	Intensifiers	‘Anyway, pretty much.’ Group 5
16. Thing	33	6	Slang	‘The thing, I don’t know! The thing for recording us.’ Group 7
17. Shit	32	5	Swear words	‘It was the funniest shit.’ Group 6
18. Man	30	7	Slang Sentence starter/finisher	‘Please man, no, no.’ (slang) Group 7 ‘Man, you got roasted by a teacher.’ (sentence starter) Group 4
19. Actually	30	6	Adjectives and adverbs	‘Yeah, I would actually do that.’ Group 7
20. Stuff /and stuff	24	7	Slang Sentence starter/finisher	‘That has my grandma’s stuff in it.’ (slang) Group 5 ‘It has good food and stuff.’ (sentence finisher) Group 2

Table 3. Frequency of use by word category.

Word class (Tagliamonte, 2016)	Frequency of use	Examples from top 20-word list (Table 1)
Sentence starters and finishers	427	guys, bro, wait, so, mate, man, and stuff
Slang phrases	415	oh my God, guys, thing, mate, man, stuff
Fillers	409	like
Adjectives and adverbs	354	actually, just
Abbreviations	220	yeah/yep, nah, coz, gonna
Swear words	165	fuck, shit, shut up
Intensifiers	121	pretty, so
Quotatives	59	like

Tagliamonte, S. (2016). Teen talk. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9781139583800

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Data availability statement

Data are available from the authors on request.