old people question

[psocoptera]

Does the current slang term "salty" mean the same thing as used to be meant by "fresh", in the sense of impertinent or argumentative? "Are you getting [fresh/salty] with me?" I'm not sure I'm understanding it right, but I always like the slang evolution thing where opposites show up as synonyms.

Comments

[sildra.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure. I always thought it meant "prone to use bad words, like a sailor", but recently I've seen it used... not quite the way you describe, but sort of in range of that?

Urban dictionary seems to have a lot of entries that boil down to "angry or bitter, especially in an aggressive way, especially after losing or being embarrassed" which, I think, really does fit the way I've seen it used recently.

[glynhogen.livejournal.com]

Ditto here. More on the profane than flirty end of the spectrum.

[uncleamos]

That's what I'm used to. Like someone playing an online game who pulls off an improbable come from behind might ask if that makes the other person feel salty.

[sildra.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's closer to the way I've seen it used online--almost a taunt itself.

[irilyth]

Huh, so is it referring to the other person's angry, bitter tears?

[gallian.livejournal.com]

I think the meaning is about that - what sildra said. But the grammatical use is different.
Not sure it could be used in your example sentence, eg, even though the meaning technically fits.
My knowledge comes exclusively from listening to the language of lower middle class suburban teens as they walk through the halll past my classroom.

[sildra.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I've likewise never seen the construction "Are you getting salty with me?" Especially since the equivalent with "fresh" implies a social situation where the speaker vastly outranks the listener, and I don't have the sense that "salty" implies that. (But then, I haven't seen it used enough to know for sure.)

[psocoptera.livejournal.com]

Fair enough; I feel like what I've seen is context like "feeling salty about x" or "not trying to make u salty" which I guess is significantly different. I don't know, it still amuses me.

[crystalpyramid]

I think "are you getting salty with me" (meaning impertinent) may actually be an older construction than "I was feeling salty yesterday" (meaning angry), and I've heard more of the latter than the former from my students. I've encountered the former, but it's not one of those weird student-isms.