There's something really genuine about how they use slang. They don't worry about if it's cool, they just get the feeling behind the word. That raw take often ends up being more right than our versions that we think too much about.
Does that raw take actually get closer to the word's core meaning? Stripping away the online context might remove the noise and leave just the useful feeling behind. It makes me wonder if we're the ones who complicate it.
Totally, it's that unexpected use that really hits. My grandma will drop a casual "slay" when she finishes her knitting project, and it has a whole different vibe than when my friends say it. They sort of absorb the words but then apply them to their own world in a way that's weirdly perfect. It makes the slang feel less like a trend and more like a tool anyone can pick up. I've started to believe they might understand the spirit of the word better than we do sometimes, just without all the online baggage.