Laura Newell: ‘Extra’ effort to fit in with the water-cooler crowd falls on deaf ears

Workers of a certain vintage are increasingly trying to fit into the cool, younger crowd in the office by adopting their slang, or so says a survey from UK jobs website Reed this week. According to those polled, more than a third of middle-aged people (answers on a postcard, please, if you know what age spread that actually is) claimed they aped the language of those new to the workplace to fit in with the water-cooler crowd. The phrases adopted include “I’m feeling it” to express agreement, “hits different” to describe something much better than usual or “sleep on” to describe something being overlooked, as in: “My boss has gone to sleep on my skills.” Other slang to watch out for, apparently, includes “goals”, which is used to compliment an achievement such as “that’s goals”, and “extra” to describe something over the top. As someone approaching the dreaded four-zero (do I escape the “middle-age” tag when that milestone arrives?) I have no desire to “get down with the kids” and adopt Gen Z phrases. But I will admit that as an British expat trying to endear myself to my Aussie colleagues, I have tried my hand at a little classic dinky-di, true-blue vocab. While both cooped up working from home during the pandemic, my husband reports that I once uttered this unforgettable hybrid in my received pronunciation BBC accent: “It’s alright, mate, I’ll let you know in the arvo, no need to have a tanty.” Needless to say, when he pointed out that it gave an effect akin to Dick Van Dyke’s performance in Mary Poppins, it quickly killed any desire to continue my assimilation. Very much an extra own goal.