24-04-2025
'No cap': the slang terms 'kicking the bucket'
Whether you're "keeping it real", having a "glow-up", or "eating and leaving no crumbs' could have a lot to do with how old you are.
The British Council, an organisation which promotes and educates on UK culture, claims some older expressions are falling out of fashion as new ones rise in popularity - driven largely by social media and Gen Z.
In its report on 100 phrases which show how the English language is changing, they said that whilst classic idioms such as 'kill two birds with one stone' remain widely used, newer phrases are gaining momentum.
'No cap', meaning no lie or I'm serious, was the most popular of the 100 phrases for Gen Z.
First used in 2011, the slang term comes from African American English where 'cap' means exaggeration or falsehood and is used across the generations, the study found, but most prominently by Gen Z.
Other phrases are being replaced by modern alternatives as younger generations embrace the shift.
'Spill the beans' was first recorded in 1919, the report said, but saw a surge in the 1990s. The British Council says the rise in social media is partly to blame for the rising popularity of similar phrase, "spill the tea" - an idiom popular with gen Z.
Some phrases like "step up to the plate" and "below the belt" are frequently used among older generations but could be falling out of fashion as they're rarely seen in internet comment sections which skew to a younger audience.
The British Council said the phrase 'bucket list', meaning a list of things to do before you die, was 'practically unheard of' until 2007, when comedy-adventure film The Bucket List was released.
It is thought to have come from another idiom: 'to kick the bucket'.
The research, led by computational linguistics expert Dr Barbara McGillivray and natural language processing specialist Iacopo Ghinassi, analysed millions of online documents to track when expressions emerge and how their use changes
Dr McGillivray said: 'Analysing the frequency and emergence of idioms, proverbs, and phrases, we uncover not only the impact of historical events but also how the digital era shapes the language we use today.
The British Council found some idioms appeared to skip a generation, with phrases like "throw in the towel" and "joie de vivre" being popular among older generations and gen Z, but not with millenials.
This could show that some idioms are being revived or reinvented among younger speakers, the British Council said.
Mark Walker, director of English and exams at the British Council, said: 'This latest study into the evolution of English explores the phrases we use to express shared ideas and experiences – it shows how much English is shaped by people around the world and how it continues to grow and adapt.
'By celebrating the richness of our language, we're not just looking at its past, but also at the future of English.
'Whether for work, study, travel, relationships, or lifelong learning, as the global lingua franca, English is one of the key ways that people connect and engage across cultures.'
