Slang time machine
Every English slang term has a moment it first showed up in print or on someone's lips. We've tagged 1,000 terms with a first attested decade — from 18th-century thieves’ cant through to 2020s internet vocabulary. Pick a decade below.
1800s — 24 terms
Showing top 24 by views00
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knackered
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
bluesky
🔊proper
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊arey
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊munny
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊y'all
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
youtube
🔊sea swallow
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊tracker
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊brunie
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊titiwi
1800🎤 Black culture & AAVE
🔊two penn'orth
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊slotch
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊reet
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊Tope Khana
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊oart
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊niggerish
1800🎤 Black culture & AAVE
🔊able whackets
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊Andrew
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊up the kyte
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Abraham Lincoln
1809🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊ey up
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊canvasser
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊Aberdonian
1800🎤 Black culture & AAVE
🔊calyculus
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊Quincy
1800🎤 Black culture & AAVE
bluesky
🔊nuzzer
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊abstractor
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊jury panel
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊Captain Cook
1800🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊nen
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Sais
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊scrumping
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊'bacco
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊maverick
1803⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊brey
1800🎤 Black culture & AAVE
🔊aasvogel
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊anicut
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊kai
1800🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊abolitionism
1808🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊acclimate
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊abier
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊adigar
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Admiral's eighth
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊abkari
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊academize
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊khana
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊kahawai
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊daurade
1800🍔 Food & Drink
🔊bonbon
1800🍔 Food & Drink
bluesky
🔊toby
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊acclimated
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊aerated
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊howay
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
bluesky
🔊diddle
1803⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊a la mode
1800🍔 Food & Drink
🔊around about
1800🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
bluesky
🔊deady
1800🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊adati
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊abir
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊saltine
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊snap
1800🎵 Music & Lyrics
bluesky
🔊interference
1801🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊howdy
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊babiche
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊domino
1801🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊the sticks
1800⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊croweater
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊hostel
1808🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊gunyah
1803🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊copper-bottomed
1807🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊ganja
1800🎤 Black culture & AAVE
bluesky
🔊heads or harps
1805⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊high on the hog
1800🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊doughnut
1809🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊More on how slang travels through time
The lifecycle of a slang word
Mint, scale, ironize, retire — how every viral term moves through the same five stages.
Where slang is born now
The platforms and subcultures that mint vocabulary in 2026 — and why TikTok shifted everything.
AAVE and internet slang
The single biggest source of new mainstream English vocabulary, and why most of the words you used today started here.
Attestation dates come from etymologies originally sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0) and editorial expansion authored on Slangora. They reflect the earliest documented use we found for each term, not necessarily the moment it was coined.