The Hallway’s Got Rizz... Can School Counselors Hear What It’s Saying?

“Rizz.” “Bet.” “Six-Seven.”

Sounds like noise... but it’s not.

In this episode of the School for School Counselors Podcast, Steph Johnson breaks down what teen slang really means, and how it maps your campus culture in ways most adults never notice. You’ll hear the neuroscience behind why slang sticks, the social psychology that makes it powerful, and how school counselors can use it to spot who’s connecting… and who’s slipping through the cracks.

If you’ve ever smiled and nodded through a phrase you didn’t understand, this one’s for you.

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Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
You hear it echoing off the lockers, things like
Skibbity, Ohio, 6'7.
No context.
No explanation.
It's just like a flock ofcaffeinated parrots squawking
all over the place.
I remember passing a cluster ofkids on my way to cafeteria duty
several months ago, around thestart of the school year.

(00:22):
And one kid kind of half yelled,6'7 down the hallway.
And the others erupted like hehad just dropped the punchline
of the year.
And I smiled, I pretended I gotit, and I kept walking.
But inside, I was thinking, whaton earth did that even mean?
And I thought, do I ask?

(00:44):
But then you always know astudent's going to be like, you
wouldn't get it.
Oh, when these things start, youknow, a week or two in, the
teachers are talking about it inthe teacher's lounge, kind of
cursing about it sometimes.
And then a month later, it'sfading out, but it's getting

(01:05):
replaced by something evenweirder.
You could ignore this stuff forsure, or you could learn to
decode it.
Because hidden in those nonsensephrases are early clues about
connection, confidence, andcampus climate.
And by the end of this episode,you'll know how to listen for

(01:26):
them like a pro.
Hey school counselor, welcomeback.
In this episode of our new WhyDo They Do That series, we're
tackling one of the strangestparts of school life.
The bizarre phrases studentslatch onto that seem to mean
absolutely nothing.
Uh, spoiler, they meaneverything.

(01:47):
And when you understand whatthey're really saying, it
changes how you see your wholecampus.
So if you're ready for somestraight talk, my friend, some
clarity on your work and maybe alittle bit of rebellion, you're
gonna be in the right place.
I'm Steph Johnson, and this isthe School for School Counselors
podcast.

(02:12):
Anthropologist Victor Turnercalled it liminality, the
threshold between one socialstatus and another.
It's the in-between space wherethe old rules don't apply, but
the new ones aren't set yet.
And for teens, that's theirwhole reality.
They're suspended betweenchildhood and adulthood, student

(02:35):
and peer, family andindependence.
Everything is shifting.
And in that liminal space,shared language becomes a
lifeline.
It becomes their verbal anchorin this in-between.
I once heard two studentsrepeating the same word back and
forth, just changing the toneevery time they said it.

(02:58):
And it was nonsense, but theywere cracking up, locked
together in their own world withthese strange sounds.
It was like watching friendshipin Morse code.
And these little phrases thatkids latch onto: the riz, the
skibbity, the six seven, thosebecome secret codes.

(03:19):
They're ways to say, I'm withyou, without ever having to risk
vulnerability.
Sociolinguist Penelope Eckertfound that slang isn't random,
it's a deliberate marker ofaffiliation.
Psychologists Henri Teifel andJohn Turner call it social
identity theory.

(03:39):
We define ourselves by thegroups that we belong to.
And psychologist Paul Brownfound that feeling like you're
part of a linguistic in-groupcorrelates with higher
self-confidence and socialcomfort.
So when you hear a nonsensephrase ricocheting through the
hallways, what you're reallyhearing is a map of social

(04:02):
connection, one that showssometimes painfully clearly
who's in and who's out.
So a bizarre catchphrase isn'tjust an annoying trend.
It is a survival ritual in theadolescent limbo.
So to understand this better,let's take a peek inside the

(04:24):
brain.
Cognitive scientists call it thenow or never bottleneck.
Our brains can only hold a fewsounds at once, so short
rhythmic phrases are the onesthat stick.
It's why Skibity landsdifferently than I have a
question.
Our neurons love a beat.

(04:46):
Think about the pop song thatwon't leave your brain or the
student that hums the sameTikTok sound between classes.
That's the now or neverbottleneck in action.
Their brain is saying thisrhythm feels safe, so keep it
close.
And you've experienced this too.
That's why that carse for kidsjingle still haunts you.

(05:10):
Because brains love compact,repetitive patterns.
And for teens, this effect ismagnified.
Their brains are pruning oldpathways and craving novelty.
So each new sound is like a minireward.
Neuroscientists Bunzek andDouzzell found that hearing

(05:30):
something new activates the samereward centers as sugar.
So when a kid hears a weird newphrase, it's like popping a
Skittle, instant dopamine.
And because novelty feels good,they repeat it.
Each repetition refreshes thatSkittle reward cycle.

(05:50):
So it's not immaturity, it'sneurobiology with a sense of
humor.
And it's something that we asadults like to think we've
outgrown until we're the onesquoting the office for the 50th
time.
Now, toss social media into themix, and now you've got rocket

(06:11):
fuel on the verbal bonfire.
Media scholar Lamore Schiefmanfound that just joining a trend
online gives the brain adopamine bump.
Participation is the wholepoint.
So when you hear a TikTok phrasein the hallway, you're not just
hearing noise.
You're hearing a studenttranslate their online identity

(06:33):
into the real world.
They're testing if it fits, ifanyone's watching, and maybe to
see if it earns a laugh.
For school counselors, this isnot trivial.
It's a peek at how students aremanaging the constant
performance pressure ofadolescents.
That quiet, relentless need toprove I belong somewhere.

(06:57):
So by now, these littleoutbursts should sound less like
nonsense to you and more like agame of Marco Polo.
Picture the end of the schoolday.
The bells just rung, thehallway's a cacophony of noise.
One student lingers, shoutssomething kind of half silly and

(07:18):
half brave, and no one answers.
So they shout it again, louderthis time, and wait for someone
to call back.
Each echo that they get back isproof.
Okay, I'm not alone.
Psychologist Roy Baumeister andMark Leary say that belonging
isn't a want, it's a basic humanneed.

(07:40):
And researchers Alan and Loebfound that lonely adolescents
often test for connection thisway.
Tiny social experiments sprinklethroughout the day to see who
echoes back.
And honestly, we never reallyoutgrow this.
Every cryptic text we drop intoa group chat hoping that someone

(08:02):
gets it or asks us about it,that's adult Marco Polo.
We're all just calling out inthe void, hoping to get that
polo back.
But you and I know that for somestudents, the silence is
deafening.
A former student once told me,no one even tries to loot me in.

(08:24):
She sat sideways in a chair,hoodie pulled up over her hands,
staring at the floor, and whenshe finally looked up at me, the
tears were already there.
And then she said, You start tofeel invisible.
Isolation is a very slow poison.

(08:45):
Baumeister's research shows thatit erodes motivation,
engagement, and even sense ofsafety.
Belonging is one of ourstrongest buffers against
student depression and dropout.
So that's where we come in.
If we stop hearing weird lingoas noise and start hearing it as

(09:08):
data, we can intervene earlier.
Listen for the dominant phrases.
Notice who starts them and whonever joins in.
When a quiet student suddenlyrepeats one, that's not random.
That's a kid testing connection.
So your smile or a quick poloback through your sheesh or no

(09:30):
cap can confirm that they'reseen.
And sometimes the joke shiftsfrom funny to cutting faster
than you'd think.
When you see a phrase becomeexclusion, step in early.
And for the students who staysilent week after week, don't
assume they're just indifferentto all of this.

(09:51):
Linguistic quiet can mean astudent is experiencing anxiety,
or perhaps they're masking.
And that's your cue to lean in.
So this isn't just aboutkindness, it's about prevention.
And by translating this crazytalk into what it really is,

(10:12):
which is connection seeking, wecan hear the whispers before we
get the cries for help.
Twenty-five years ago,researcher Karen Osterman found
that belonging was the hiddenvariable in almost every student
outcome, academic, social, andemotional.
And it's still true today.

(10:35):
Only now, belonging is built inhallways and hashtags.
It happens in group chats andgaming servers, and in slang
that expires faster than themilk in your refrigerator.
Remember that hallway from thestart?
The echoes bouncing off thelockers, the words that made no
sense.
Now you know exactly what theywere saying.

(10:58):
So the next time you hear wildnonsense ricochanging through
your campus, try hearing itdifferently.
It's not just silliness.
It's like a sacred smoke signal,an awkward anthem of
adolescence.
Behind those words, if youlisten closely enough, you'll
hear the oldest whisper thereever was.

(11:21):
See me, know me, and let mebelong.
So, school counselor, here'syour challenge for this week.
Find that one ridiculousbuzzword that's sweeping your
campus.
Notice who's shouting it, who'slaughing, and who's hanging
back.
And if you catch a kid who'snever joined in suddenly

(11:43):
throwing one out, give them agrin, give them a nod, maybe a
little no-cap.
Because that tiny moment ofrecognition might be their polo.
And your answer might be theproof they've been looking for
to prove that they matter.
Even if you have no idea whatthe things you're saying even
mean.

(12:07):
Hey, next time on the podcast,we're gonna decode another
student mystery.
Why are kids spending hourstrying to mirror a stranger's
TikTok choreography?
Spoiler, it's not just for fun.
The science of embodiedcognition might help explain it.
Make sure you've hit thesubscribe button so you don't

(12:27):
miss it.
And until then, I'm Steph,helping you hear the whispers of
belonging behind the weirdestwords.
Skibbity bop, friends.
See you next time.
Take care.