SINGAPORE —  A "dictionary" of slang terms used by Generation Z and Generation Alpha, along with translations for potentially baffled older people, has gone viral on TikTok. 

In a post on Tuesday (June 11), TikTok user "kinglouisthelegend" put up a series of tables with a range of phrases used by young people.

The user, whose real name is Mr Louis Wong, 29, is a Singaporean who works at tuition centre Knowledge Bank and in real estate. He is also co-founder of Master Wong Bird’s Nest.

He told TODAY on Wednesday that he was prompted to draw up the list after parents of his students asked about the slang terms their children were using.

In his post, Mr Wong gave regular meanings for the terms as well as equivalent slang used by baby boomers born after World War II (Boomers) and those from Gen X and Gen Y. Those translations included some Singlish terms.

For example, Mr Wong included the term "hits different", which was translated as "shiok", a Singlish term, for the older generations. This means very good or refreshing.

The post had received more than 171,700 views and 13,600 likes as of Wednesday afternoon. 

Despite the attempt to bring clarity to bridge generational confusion in language use, there were people who were unconvinced by some of the definitions.

For example, Mr Wong said that "bussin" meant "excelling", with older types likely to say "pro".

However, one user questioned if "bussin" was "used for food" instead.

Another source of confusion was the term "NPC". Mr Wong said that it was short for "non-playable character", which referred to a person who was socially inept. Older people might say "awkz", he added.

To this, one user wrote: "I thought NPC meant basic?"

Another remarked: "Making a chart to get the meanings wrong is crazy."

Still, many people were also thankful for the list, with one saying: "Sending this to mum to refer when I accidentally spout those words." 

Another wrote: "Useful for comms during CNY (Chinese New Year) with my cousins."

Speaking to TODAY, Mr Wong said that it is important for him to learn his students' slang to communicate better with them.

Using these slang terms has helped to build a friendly relationship with his students, which motivates them to do their homework. 

"So if they have careless mistakes, I’ll say things like, 'skill issue',” Mr Wong said, using the young slang term that means to lack aptitude. 

Parents have approached him to learn about Gen Z slang in order to bridge their relationship with their child as well. 

This inspired him to create the list with the help of his students whom he often asks about new slang terms.

"While we encourage our students to learn more bombastic vocabs, I encourage our parents to learn more Gen Z vocabs, too," Mr Wong added in his TikTok caption.