Slang flips every year. Stay curious about how people talk instead of freezing in the year you felt coolest.

Language keeps moving whether or not you go with it. People tend to stop somewhere around the years they felt most fluent and treat everything after as decline, which quietly tells younger people that talking to you is work. Staying curious costs nothing and keeps you in the conversation. Words are not getting worse, only newer.

When you hear something you do not recognise, ask what it means instead of making a joke about it. You will get an answer and a small amount of goodwill. Paying attention to how people talk now is one of the cheapest ways to remain someone others want to talk to.