How to Make your Latest Catchphrase Blow Up

Believe it or not, there was a time when people walked up to their “peeps” and told them“ you da bomb.” Now, in 2010, these words seem archaic and beyond lame. Who came up with this shiz (another one!)? Apparently, slang doesn’t even have to be clever to catch on (whoever made up peeps really just mutilated the word people). What really matters is how you spread the word about your new word.

We’ve created some steps that will help you launch your word into the everyday vernacular—or at least the open threads.

STEP 1: First, have a totally genius, original idea. What? Like that’s hard? Coming up with the next “stoked” or “keepin’ it real” should be pretty easy for kids as talented and smart as you. As you're narrowing down your list of finalists, ask yourself: Does this word or phrase sound amazing? Does it have an awesome amount of almost awkward alliteration? Is it borderline offensive? Is it something that would aggravate the crap out of your mom if you shouted it around the house all the time? Does it make little to no sense? Good. That means it’s probably a genius idea. Move on to….

STEP 2: Now that you have a catchphrase—and hopefully have decided on what it means—it’s time to repeat it endlessly. Make your life like a daily Mad Libs and practice sprinkling your word into the blank spaces in your sentences. When your teacher calls on you during class this fall to answer a question even though she’s totally aware you were just spacing out, bravely say, "that's retardulous." When people give you change at the store, smile and say, "Get it, Titanic Cowboy.” Try out "laser," your new word for awesome, on valet drivers, fast food drive thrus, the people manning 411, bus drivers, and waitresses, because their jobs really don’t suck enough. Just say it to whoever, whenever—except if you're facing arson charges, in which case, "get my wamp-wamp on" probably won't be a viable defense.

STEP 3: Now that everyone in your neighborhood (and those people from 411) know all about your catchphrase and have actually began to warm up to it, it’s time for you to go global. The best way to make your phrase blow up is to record a hit rap song. This tactic has a proven success rate of 99.9999 percent, and has worked for “I make it rain,” “let’s get it poppin,” and “shake dat laffy taffy.” If getting time at recording studio is going to be an issue for you, then go viral. Make an awesome video involving silly string, a half-naked cowboy, a boat, and lots of glitter. If possible, call a famous friend—like Tracy Morgan or Steve Carrell—to make a cameo. If the biggest celeb you know is the librarian with a nose wart, don’t worry; that’s pretty great too. On Twitter, #hashtag your word or phrase and see if it blows up on Ashton Kutcher’s page.

STEP 4: Move on. Catchphrases are cool because they're a very "of the moment" thing. Which means they have a short shelf life. When your slang gets overused and overdone, it’s time to start over. Obviously, people got over “da bomb,” and believe it or not, one day they will grow sick of “retardulous.” Probably by sometime tomorrow afternoon.

What slang are you trying to make happen?

Related post: SparkNotes' Glossary of British Slang