Slang for Non-Slangulary People: “Comp”

Contributed by Silveress

Silveress (aka “Sharmaine Elan”)

Hello, I’m Silveress, and I am a junior at Lanai High & Elementary School. I am a person of many hobbies and talents (not really), but I enjoy forms of creative writing such as poetry, journaling, letters, etc. I am working alongside the Lanai Today paper to create a new column that discusses and describes the slang used by Generation Z (Gen-Z), people born between 1997 and 2012. Each publication will feature a new Gen-Z slang, so that you can go ahead and flaunt your wide range of Gen-Z lingo to your friends and family. Isn’t that comp, chat?

comp /kɒmp/ adj.

In basic terms, the word “comp” is an expression used in a variety of ways to describe a person or object. The term comes from Spenser “Æ” Elan, (who I asked about regarding the term “comp”) and his friends. In different contexts, “comp” can mean cool, weird, funny, or something to a similar extent. The word can also be used to describe something that's low key (kind of, for you non-slangulary people) dumb. The use of calling a person or object “comp” is subjective, as what one person may consider “comp” another may not.

Example:

Person 1: “Yo! Did you see that guy’s fit (outfit)!?”

Person 2: “Yeah! Das comp, bro!”

The origins of the slang come straight from the hit basketball video game, NBA2K, where “comp” is used to describe an opponent who is quite good at the game — and not just good — but an absolute beast.