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The term squad is part of youth slang, and its meaning goes back to military operations. For young people, however, squad has little to do with armed conflict.
Squad in youth slang: meaning and origin
Squad no longer has much in common with its original meaning as a colloquial expression. Only one thing is expressed by both the origin of the word and its new usage: solidarity.
- Squad comes from the English-speaking world.
- A squad was originally asmall military unit usually consisting of two or more troops. Most squads have between eight and fourteen soldiers. The term is primarily associated with cohesion and team spirit.
- In the gaming scene, “squad” is also ubiquitous and, in keeping with its origins, often refers to smaller military units in team-based shooters such as Call of Duty or Battlefield. In these games, several players work together tactically as a cohesive group to achieve mission objectives.
- In everyday use, however, the term “squad” has a more casual meaning: it describes a team or unit made up of friends who spend time together or share interests.
- At the same time, the word is used in a sports context, such as in amateur soccer, to refer to a team, a training group, or the lineup. The term emphasizes the solidarity and shared ambition of those involved.
Squad: Use of the term
As slang, the term squad is mainly used in the everyday language of young people, but also in sports and gaming.
- In German-speaking countries, it is common to use Squad to refer to a group of friends. Example: “Who’s coming tomorrow? Well, the whole Squad.”
- The hashtag “Squadgoals” also went viral in this context, referring to certain activities, opinions, or goals that you share with your entire clique. The popular hashtag means something like “group goals” or “our team should achieve that too.” People admire certain group achievements and friendships that are considered exemplary and desirable.
- However, the grammar of the term is a recurring topic of debate: in German, it is unclear whether it should be der, die, or das Squad – both masculine and neuter forms are used in everyday language and online. After all, it is not entirely clear how nouns of English origin should sound when Germanized.
- Officially, there is no clear definition in the Duden dictionary yet; nevertheless, many people usually use “der Squad” analogous to “der Club” or “der Clan.” In youth language, however, the young target group mainly uses “die Squad” – presumably by analogy to “die Gruppe” (the group).
