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.
1940s — 111 terms
Showing top 111 by views40
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cap
1940tiktok
🔊bussin
1940tiktok
🔊no cap
1940tiktok
🔊bet
1940tiktok
🔊servo
1940🔊
frfr
1940texting
🔊finna
1940tiktok
🔊Californication
1947bluesky
🔊taking the piss
1948🔊
burn coal
1946🔊
girlie
1940bluesky
🔊PLAN
1949bluesky
🔊4F
1940🔊
Edgar
1946bluesky
🔊jaygee
1940🔊
gaslight
1944bluesky
🔊K-12
1948🔊
derv
1948🔊
A-bomb
1945🔊
light bill
1940🔊
sprog
1940🔊
abdabs
1946🔊
groovy
1940bluesky
🔊shonk
1943🔊
pisscutter
1940🔊
Harlem sunset
1940🔊
quinella
1942🔊
A-Day
1947bluesky
🔊de Havilland Law
1943🔊
chops
1940bluesky
🔊green card
1946bluesky
🔊axe
1940🔊
baka bomb
1944🔊
jet fuel
1944bluesky
🔊bob-a-job
1949🔊
candy striper
1944🔊
11-plus examination
1944🔊
grok
1949bluesky
🔊Herkimer Jerkimer
1940🔊
oater
1945🔊
A&E
1948🔊
cock up
1948🔊
Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
1944🔊
ten pound tourist
1946🔊
cowabunga
1940bluesky
🔊Dumbo ear
1941🔊
deuce coupe
1940🔊
Winnipeg couch
1945🔊
A-II
1940🔊
fucking A
1947bluesky
🔊honky
1946bluesky
🔊boondocker
1944🔊
Nikon choir
1946🔊
real gone
1940🔊
ronson
1940bluesky
🔊diaper wrap
1949🔊
googolplex
1940🔊
troppo
1940bluesky
🔊Tricolour
1947🔊
cop out
1942bluesky
🔊Fauci ouchie
1940🔊
ten pound pom
1946🔊
brupper
1949🔊
knockers
1940bluesky
🔊Tiranga
1947🔊
action stations
1940🔊
catbird seat
1942🔊
bhapa
1947🔊
Duckburg
1944🔊
Smokey Bear
1944🔊
reindeer games
1949🔊
Fibber McGee's closet
1940🔊
radar
1940bluesky
🔊boofhead
1940🔊
Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel
1942🔊
like turkeys voting for Christmas
1944🔊
fortune cookie
1942🔊
shufti
1940🔊
impeachment
1945bluesky
🔊brainstorm
1945bluesky
🔊copperfasten
1948🔊
comely maidens
1943🔊
hot rod
1945bluesky
🔊VP Day
1945🔊
twitterpated
1942🔊
Mr Plod
1949🔊
pac-a-mac
1949🔊
Hills Hoist
1945🔊
brownie point
1944🔊
crapola
1940🔊
Big Bang
1949bluesky
🔊lilo
1940bluesky
🔊millennial
1947youtube
🔊baby boomer
1946bluesky
🔊know shit from Shinola
1940🔊
nit nurse
1942🔊
Bambi lover
1942🔊
Janet and John
1949🔊
Dunkirk spirit
1940🔊
laundromat
1940bluesky
🔊P60
1944🔊
cybernat
1942🔊
pushbike
1940🔊
hold the ring
1942🔊
asswipe
1947bluesky
🔊pruno
1940🔊
party political broadcast
1947bluesky
🔊Gossage
1940🔊
90-day wonder
1942🔊
country ham
1944🔊
closet case
1946🔊
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.