Charles Dickens’ classic novel Great Expectations has been reimagined as Bare Expectations, a modern translation into today’s teen slang commissioned to help parents understand the language their children use online, per mirror.co.uk.
The audiobook, available on Spotify and Apple Music, is accompanied by a glossary of misunderstood words and phrases.
The adaptation follows research of 2,000 parents with children aged 10 to 16, which found 70 per cent have struggled to understand a text message, social media post or online comment written by their child due to slang. Lines from the original have been reimagined, with “what coarse hands he has” becoming “my drip gave her the major ick,” and “I was dreadfully frightened” now rendered as “I was absolutely cooked”.
Tesco Mobile, which commissioned the project, partnered with youth culture expert Chloe Combi to advise on the translation. The phone network also worked with Kurupt FM’s MC Grindah, who gave a reading at a London youth centre to demonstrate how the adaptation can help bridge generational language gaps.
MC Grindah said: “You’d think the best MC in the galaxy would know all the latest slang, and I do. If any kid tells you otherwise, they’re lying. Any words I don’t know are just not cool enough for me to care about”.
The launch coincides with Tesco Mobile’s new Safe Start offering, a guided phone-readiness experience with parental controls and AI-powered social media monitoring through Sway.ly, designed to help parents set up their child’s phone safely. The network has also partnered with Internet Matters to provide online safety resources.
Chloe Combi said: “Teen slang is evolving at an unprecedented pace. A word can emerge as a social media craze one day and become everyday language the next”.
•Featured image: The reimaging tells the Charles Dickens’ classic through Gen Alpha slang/PinPep