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.
1900s — 23 terms
Showing top 23 by viewsit girl
1900👗 Fashion & Lifestyle
hep
1900🎵 Music & Lyrics
already
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
she'll be right
1900🗺️ Regional & Other
Jewphobia
1905🗺️ Regional & Other
snag
1900🍔 Food & Drink
Lochnerize
1905🗺️ Regional & Other
bonza
1900🗺️ Regional & Other
autism
1907🌐 Internet & Memes
wank
1905🌐 Internet & Memes
Peacock Alley
1904🗺️ Regional & Other
omnibus
1902⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Carnegie unit
1906🗺️ Regional & Other
incept
1905🗺️ Regional & Other
non-U
1907⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
school shooting
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
man on the Clapham omnibus
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
federation furniture
1901🗺️ Regional & Other
weekend
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
wirehouse
1904🗺️ Regional & Other
red ball
1900⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Blind Freddy
1907🗺️ Regional & Other
onkus
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
Barrett's esophagus
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
Limehouse
1909🗺️ Regional & Other
Billy Williams' Cabbage Patch
1907🗺️ Regional & Other
Mutt and Jeff
1908🗺️ Regional & Other
rorty
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
grift
1906⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
gullywasher
1903⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Coalite
1904🗺️ Regional & Other
spiv
1904🗺️ Regional & Other
perfection salad
1904🍔 Food & Drink
flyover
1905⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
berserk
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
Rolls-Royce
1904🗺️ Regional & Other
play in Peoria
1900🗺️ Regional & Other
ginger talk
1905⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
muckraker
1906🗺️ Regional & Other
Buggins's turn
1901🗺️ Regional & Other
big picture
1904⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Italian sandwich
1903⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
clone
1903🗺️ Regional & Other
soft Mick
1900🗺️ Regional & Other
pork roll
1906🗺️ Regional & Other
doozy
1903🗺️ 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.