Slang time machine
Every English slang term has a moment it first showed up in print or on someone's lips. We've tagged 3,074 terms with a first attested decade — from 18th-century thieves’ cant through to 2020s internet vocabulary. Pick a decade below.
1930s — 87 terms
Showing top 87 by views30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
barrow boy
1939🔊
toby
1931bluesky
🔊George
1931bluesky
🔊absobloodylutely
1935🔊
tenderoni
1930🔊
dunny
1933🔊
gaff
1930🔊
Belisha beacon
1934🔊
woke
1930tiktok
🔊Adam and Eve on a raft
1930🔊
jailbait
1934🔊
Mabo
1936🔊
titiwi
1938🔊
parandero
1934🔊
sellotape
1937🔊
schmear
1930🔊
Blockburger test
1932🔊
have it off
1930🔊
pendent jurisdiction
1933🔊
racist
1932bluesky
🔊A-list
1930bluesky
🔊freeloader
1930bluesky
🔊pantech
1930🔊
Antifa
1932bluesky
🔊daks
1930🔊
Ivy League
1933bluesky
🔊Eirean
1937🔊
Dorothy dollar
1939🔊
crumpet
1936bluesky
🔊rambler
1935🔊
bullpup
1930🔊
Taswegian
1930🔊
deep-fry
1930🔊
amateur hour
1935bluesky
🔊payola
1938🔊
Glyndebourne
1934🔊
A-2
1931🔊
pavlova
1930🔊
Ameche
1939🔊
frammis
1930🔊
pull one's head in
1930🔊
bicycle monarchy
1938🔊
big mama
1930bluesky
🔊diddly-squat
1934🔊
not in Kansas anymore
1939bluesky
🔊indict a ham sandwich
1930🔊
chopped liver
1930🔊
submarine sandwich
1930🔊
Palko test
1937🔊
swinging
1930bluesky
🔊don't touch that dial
1939🔊
moxie
1930bluesky
🔊bupkis
1931🔊
Blimpery
1934🔊
local
1938bluesky
🔊AA
1935🔊
bazillion
1939bluesky
🔊dil-ya-ble
1930🔊
cup of joe
1931🔊
woodshed
1930🔊
biffy
1935🔊
Gordon Bennett
1937🔊
cuddly-wuddly
1938🔊
Green River Ordinance
1931🔊
C-man
1930🔊
jockey briefs
1934🔊
honey joys
1930🔊
hero sandwich
1937🔊
knickerbocker glory
1930🔊
pablum
1931bluesky
🔊buster
1930bluesky
🔊Sadie Hawkins dance
1937🔊
Adrian Quist
1930🔊
boondoggle
1935bluesky
🔊pocketbook
1939bluesky
🔊ute
1930🔊
spelunker
1930🔊
fuck the dog
1935🔊
chantoosie
1932🔊
chow mein bun
1930🔊
friend of Dorothy
1939🔊
piffy on a rock bun
1930🔊
Johnny-one-note
1937🔊
Daily Heil
1930🔊
fitness
1935bluesky
🔊Cobb salad
1937🔊
dreamboat
1930bluesky
🔊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.