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.
1830s — 14 terms
Showing top 14 by viewsabsquatulate
1830🗺️ Regional & Other
all Sir Garnet
1833⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Old Bill
1830⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Maxwellisation
1831⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
wand of peace
1838🗺️ Regional & Other
Jim Crow law
1830🗺️ Regional & Other
issue
1836⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
zip coon
1834🗺️ Regional & Other
dago
1838🗺️ Regional & Other
chop-chop
1830🗺️ Regional & Other
Harriet Lane
1832🗺️ Regional & Other
bad cess
1831⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bakery
1832🗺️ Regional & Other
coach
1830⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
custom
1830⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bodacious
1837⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
flour
1830⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
go west
1838🗺️ Regional & Other
bone-idle
1836⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
cater-corner
1838⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Hoosier
1830⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
highfalutin
1839⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Black Maria
1830🗺️ Regional & Other
cronyism
1834🗺️ Regional & Other
Christmas tree
1837🗺️ Regional & Other
hummel
1831⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Kraut
1833🗺️ Regional & Other
tutti-frutti
1838⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
beer and skittles
1837🗺️ Regional & Other
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.