It’s been lit, 2015. You’ve brought us a new Prime Minister, The Pan Am Games, and the redemption of our prodigal son, Justin Bieber. You’ve been the host of a wonderful epoch in Internet culture, which has graced us with a new, on-fleek lexicon. With the year’s end almost upon us, here at The Varsity we saw it fit to count down our favorite buzzwords and expressions that best capture the U of T student experience in the past year.
10) AF
Who needs adverbs like ‘very,’ ‘really,’ or even ‘hella’ to emphasize how drastic something is, when we can simply throw two letters behind the adjective in question?
Used in a sentence: Ten buzzwords? That’s excessive af.
9) #ComeTogether
The mass Jays hysteria that spread through the entire Toronto consciousness earlier this year was complimented by the hashtag that perfectly encapsulated the city’s love for our favourite baseball birds.
Used in a sentence: heading down to the SkyDo — err, Rogers Centre. #ComeTogether
8) (stu)DYING
A term that U of T students are all too familiar with. In the height of exam season, it’s hard to tell whether our late night Robarts study sessions are ensuring our bright futures, or accelerating our inevitable, stress-induced demise.
Used in a sentence: I’ll be up all night stuDYING for tomorrow’s final…
7) Netflix and Chill
Ah yes — the quintessential booty call in disguise. The best part about this meme-inducing,Halloween-costume-inspiring phenomenon? Everyone knows exactly what you mean by suggesting a Netflix and chill.
Used in a sentence: Sup bae, Netflix and chill?
6) Drake/Norm Kelly/6ix Gods & Goddesses
Ever since he left the city you,
Started saying 6ix and going out more,
Retweeting city councilors you’ve never seen before,
Used in a sentence: I study at the University of the 6ix
5) “Interested in Going”
This new Facebook event response option is perfectly suited for the indecisive twenty-something-year-old living in Toronto. Those ridiculous garden parties and battle re-enactment events you all said you were going to last summer, but when it rolled around you stayed in playing Rocket League with your roommate? Facebook has just the thing. Now you can be a part of the event without being held accountable for actually showing up!
Used in a sentence: ‘Eat Chocolate Cake and Listen to Adele for 60 Hours?’ *Interested in Going*
4) #SquadGoals
This prominent 2015 hashtag helped us articulate our envy. Admittedly, our cliques look a lot less cool than Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman do in the latest Batman v. Superman trailer, or even Taylor Swift’s celebrity militia in the video for “Bad Blood” — but a squad can dream, can’t they?
Used in a sentence: Suicide Squad? More like Suicide #SquadGoals.
3) Credit/No Credit
What most students ultimately took away from last winter’s TA strike was the ability to credit/no Credit any courses they saw fit. This meant that you could take a required course, receive the credit, but not have your final grade affect your GPA if you did poorly in that class. It was a wonderful time to be a lazy student.
Used in a sentence: …I can redit/no Credit ANY class?
2) #UofTears
The final hashtag on our list is a beautiful one. It boils down the despair, anxiety, and sense of hopelessness we’ve all felt the night before an exam, or paper is due into one, tragically relatable saying.
Used in a sentence: When your break from studying for exams is spent writing one of your exams #UofTears
1) Listicles
The list article, or ‘listicle’ as we in the business call it, has become the darling of Internet-based publications. Whether recapping the highlights of the prior night’s award show, or counting down the best episodes of an obscure Canadian television program, your news feed — the ultimate procrastination destination — has been hijacked by these convenient clickholes this year.
Used in a sentence: A list? That’s how he ended the article?!