Ecomoic Digest

As wildfires bore down on Altadena, California, Hunt Turner and his wife rushed out of their home, their phones blaring evacuation alerts. With danger looming, Turner reached into his pocket and pulled out a familiar metal key. Hunt Turner holding his daughter in his Porsche “Let’s get the Porsche,” he said, referring to the cherished 1964 Porsche 356 in their detached garage. The cherry-red classic had been in his family for generations, a treasured heirloom that he had once used to teach his daughters how to drive—stick shift and all. But there was a problem. The power was out, and the garage door wouldn’t budge. “We have to go,” he said. With no other choice, they climbed into their pickup truck and left the Porsche behind. The wildfires that tore through Altadena, Pacific Palisades, and other parts of Los Angeles from January 7 claimed at least 29 lives and destroyed more than 10,000 homes and buildings. Among the devastation were countless irreplaceable belongings—photographs, art...

Cecilia Hermawan relies on text chains with fellow parents to stay updated on the latest words her kids are using. But even that didn’t prepare her for the moment her 9-year-old casually mentioned “mewing.” “I had no idea what it meant,” said Hermawan, 41. “I had to Google it and even double-check with my friend Emily.” To her relief, the term referred to a facial exercise meant to improve jawline definition—nothing inappropriate. “You look in the mirror and mew,” she explained. Each generation invents its own slang, but thanks to social media, today’s kids are constantly churning through new phrases at lightning speed. Words spread and fade so quickly that even the most engaged parents struggle to keep up. Older siblings pass down vocabulary, leaving even 4-year-olds calling things “sus” (short for suspicious). Middle school teacher Philip Lindsay has taken to documenting the ever-growing lexicon of his students. In a recent video, he rattled off 31 slang terms he heard in just on...