What does it mean when a teenager looks bored and says, "Random"?

I have a 9 year old grandaughter who will say “Wow, that was random” but 99% of the time she is using it correctly because grandpa has ADD and said…..SQUIRREL!..... sorry, anyway that is what she has to deal with.

It is the new “Whatever”.

I haven ‘t heard random used this way. Only time I hear random used is when people say “I have a random chapstick or some random things in here.” They must not understand what the word means if they’re using it regularly.

Now a days when used in that manner, it means they are quirky and ironic yet the people around them aren’t, so they have become bored and lethargic.

Just feel lucky you haven’t been subjected to the use of “though” as a replacement for “wow,” “cool,” or “awesome”

Oxford Dictionaries take on Random, because the Urban Dictionary definition was so error ridden as to be incomprehensible.

I think OD is defining the first incarnation of random, meaning the current teens are just a tepid re-run, if that’s what you’re encountering.

“Oh, yeah! I remember saying _random when you were what, *seven”?_
Documentation above.

Or the following might be fun:
Kid: “Random.”
Adult: “Specific.”

@ibstubro Or you could go:
Kid: “Random”
You: “Asshole” that is pretty specific

I’m guessing there was more to the scenario than just what you described in the question. If a person says it in response to nothing at all, it’s non sequitur. It must have been in response to something that she saw or heard.

The use of “random” is an attempt to hide ignorance behind a wall of Dunning-Kruger rationalization. What they really mean when they say “random” is, “I do not understand the connection between these two things, and so there must not be any connection since I am all-seeing and all-knowing, and to admit to curiosity or any other strong drive is uncool.”

Crucial realm!

Why is it I hear echoes of yesterday mixed in with this new buzzword-
” You want random? I’LL give you random! ”

Snort!

That’s so bogus, man. I’d tell her to chill with the parent-hassle. The teeny-bopper can just split if she’s gonna be so unhip. Capeesh?

They are watching. Their mind or eyes settle on some unimportant or interesting thing. A random thing. People they don’t know can be “randoms”.

This is a little fad that seems to have been around for a number of years. I observe it being mostly used when someone says something, or something happens, that has no direct link to what is currently being said, or what is currently happening. The declaration of saying random at these times denotes just that.

Person; So I was walking around yesterday, thinking, man, there sure are a lot of dogs around here.

Other Person; I fuckin hate it when wolves eat my friends.

Person; That was random.

Or so I ujderstand it. I’ve spun it myself in that type of situation, although I usually utilize the classic “what the fuck” instead.

Why would someone utter the word when nothing is happening, I don’t know, but it overkills something that has an already weak structure in its existence.

random