By HEATHER BOSCH
KIRO Radio

English teachers and professors everywhere are bracing for fall and for an onslaught of students who sound as if they've made up their own version of the English language.

Call it Freshman communication 101, or, "what the heck are students saying?"

"Totes," said one woman, walking on the University of Washington campus. "Totes. It means totally. Lux means luxurious. Dorbsies means adorable."

"Probs, probably, " chimes in another student, "and then there's legit," which means legitimate.

The words must "legitimately" sound like fingernails down a chalkboard to English teachers.

"I remember growing up and using all sorts of phrases and words that annoyed my parents, in part, precisely because they did annoy my parents, right?" says English Department Chairman Gary Handwerk.

Far from objecting to slang, Handwerk says it's a way for people to create independence and a peer group, which explains why students pick words up from friends so quickly.

"She says cra-cra," a young man laughs, talking about his friend, "which is short for crazy. So I started saying it to her in conversation, just to make fun of her. And now I say it in daily conversation."

"Grammar is a tool to help you communicate with other people," said Handwerk, who believes that slang is only a big problem if people can't understand you, or they look down on you for using it.

"Of course, you have to pay attention to your audience," said one student, who admitted he lightens up on his use of slang when he's talking with a professor or potential employer.

Handwerk says it's unclear why some words stick around and others don't, but he says it's merely proof that English, especially American English, is always evolving.

"It's vital it's how language stays alive, right? We say things, we need to say things that people didn't need to say in the 17th century or the 19th century or the 20th century now," said Handwerk. "It's part of the creative power of language."