: How do you handle slang with questionable spelling? Imagine the following common conversation: Q: What are you up to? A. The usual Now imagine it spoken by certain kids these days: Q: What are

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There's no hard and fast rule --you want to make it as readily recognizable as possible. Sometimes there's an accepted slang spelling. If so, find it and use it. If not, if you can construct it out of known words, do so. If not, give the simplest phonetic rendition (rather than the most accurate one).

"kewl" (for "cool", it's a well-known written variation)
"adorbs" (for "adorable", since it's easy to break the real word in half)
"the yoosh" (for "the ususal", since "ush" doesn't help phonetically or lexically)

In general, use it sparingly, for color and flavor. Slang is inherently distancing by nature, and readers will easily tire of too much of it.

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Non-english speaker here. I would go for it. If the pronunciation is easy to get, the reader would immediately understand the sound, and therefore the meaning, even if he never heard the term. Either the sound would sound like something he knows, either it will remind a slang he's aware of.

Once I read about kids in a novel repeating "I dunno" all the time. I had never heard the slang for "I don't know" before, but after few times I got the meaning. It's better to add some "colour" than to go over heavy exposition ("I don't know", he said, in his typical accent - a very bad choice in my opinion).

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I don't recommend phonetic spelling of slang. There are two issues (1) The validity of the word (2) The sound of the word.

The urban dictionary contains a comprehensive list of slang. I recommend you consult it.

Your conversation would probably read:

"Wassup?"
"Same ol'"

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Go for it. It's better to show, not tell. Don't describe accents, include them in your dialogue. Just be consistent with spellings and try to get them as close to the standard spelling as possible. Of course the challenge is balancing that with clarity for the reader.

Don't use three 'o's if you are emphasizing the 'yoozh' as a short form. Extra vowels convey length.

If your character is going to say 'usual' the 'yoozh' or 'yuzh' you could explain it the first time it's encountered.

Perhaps something like this:
''What are you up to?''

''The usual,''pronouncing it the yoozh, in that youthful affectation.
''Like what?''

''Chilling, Facebooking, just
the yoozh. Sup?''

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