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.
1880s — 18 terms
Showing top 18 by viewsBlighty
1886⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
fraktur
1886🗺️ Regional & Other
racialism
1882⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
lah-di-dah
1880⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
All-American
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
derecho
1888⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Rand formula
1884💼 Corporate & Work
hamfatter
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
jack up
1885⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
parrot and monkey time
1882🗺️ Regional & Other
keister
1881🗺️ Regional & Other
last chance saloon
1883⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
gamgee
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
jitney
1886⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
mugwump
1884⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
soccer
1885🗺️ Regional & Other
granola
1886🗺️ Regional & Other
milquetoast
1885🗺️ Regional & Other
dude
1883👗 Fashion & Lifestyle
Duluth pack
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
corn-pit
1883⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Sherrin
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
doodad
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
nothingburger
1881🗺️ Regional & Other
Medicine Line
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
grand poobah
1885🗺️ Regional & Other
graduand
1882🗺️ Regional & Other
gonad
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
heffalump
1882🗺️ Regional & Other
count coup
1880⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
rugger
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
potatoes and point
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
charley horse
1880🗺️ Regional & Other
ride shotgun
1882🗺️ Regional & Other
gurney
1883🗺️ Regional & Other
drunk as Chloe
1883🗺️ 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.