Slang time machine
Every English slang term has a moment it first showed up in print or on someone's lips. We've tagged 4,786 terms with a first attested decade — from 18th-century thieves’ cant through to 2020s internet vocabulary. Pick a decade below.
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1940s — 119 terms
Showing top 119 by views40
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cap
1940tiktok
🔊bussin
1940tiktok
🔊no cap
1940tiktok
🔊bet
1940tiktok
🔊frfr
1940texting
🔊servo
1940🔊
finna
1940tiktok
🔊taking the piss
1948🔊
PLAN
1949bluesky
🔊burn coal
1946🔊
derv
1948🔊
Californication
1947bluesky
🔊4F
1940🔊
Edgar
1946bluesky
🔊gaslight
1944bluesky
🔊jaygee
1940🔊
abdabs
1946🔊
girlie
1940bluesky
🔊A-bomb
1945🔊
K-12
1948🔊
light bill
1940🔊
A-Day
1947bluesky
🔊Unicef
1946bluesky
🔊axe
1940🔊
Harlem sunset
1940🔊
chops
1940bluesky
🔊bruce
1946bluesky
🔊ornery
1947🔊
de Havilland Law
1943🔊
bob-a-job
1949🔊
radar
1940bluesky
🔊troppo
1940bluesky
🔊A&E
1948🔊
sprog
1940🔊
twitterpated
1942🔊
jet fuel
1944bluesky
🔊ofay
1948🔊
A-II
1940🔊
action stations
1940🔊
Winnipeg couch
1945🔊
shufti
1940🔊
rating
1947bluesky
🔊groovy
1940bluesky
🔊brainstorm
1945bluesky
🔊Dumbo ear
1941🔊
Herkimer Jerkimer
1940🔊
party political broadcast
1947bluesky
🔊Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
1944🔊
Hills Hoist
1945🔊
honky
1946bluesky
🔊pisscutter
1940🔊
Fauci ouchie
1940🔊
wiener
1948bluesky
🔊nit nurse
1942🔊
quadrillion
1948🔊
knockers
1940bluesky
🔊Nikon choir
1946🔊
impeachment
1945bluesky
🔊fortune cookie
1942🔊
reindeer games
1949🔊
catbird seat
1942🔊
baka bomb
1944🔊
hot rod
1945bluesky
🔊ronson
1940bluesky
🔊candy striper
1944🔊
Tiranga
1947🔊
googolplex
1940🔊
pac-a-mac
1949🔊
cock up
1948🔊
Fibber McGee's closet
1940🔊
oater
1945🔊
baby boomer
1946bluesky
🔊quinella
1942🔊
bhapa
1947🔊
pruno
1940🔊
laundromat
1940bluesky
🔊Mr Plod
1949🔊
Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel
1942🔊
Janet and John
1949🔊
grok
1949bluesky
🔊brupper
1949🔊
millennial
1947youtube
🔊Bambi lover
1942🔊
deuce coupe
1940🔊
90-day wonder
1942🔊
ten pound tourist
1946🔊
boofhead
1940🔊
comely maidens
1943🔊
green card
1946bluesky
🔊boondocker
1944🔊
Gossage
1940🔊
11-plus examination
1944🔊
P60
1944🔊
Duckburg
1944🔊
ten pound pom
1946🔊
cowabunga
1940bluesky
🔊brownie point
1944🔊
like turkeys voting for Christmas
1944🔊
cop out
1942bluesky
🔊crapola
1940🔊
Big Bang
1949bluesky
🔊Smokey Bear
1944🔊
Dunkirk spirit
1940🔊
fucking A
1947bluesky
🔊know shit from Shinola
1940🔊
lilo
1940bluesky
🔊diaper wrap
1949🔊
closet case
1946🔊
copperfasten
1948🔊
needways
1947🔊
asswipe
1947bluesky
🔊tailor
1942bluesky
🔊country ham
1944🔊
pushbike
1940🔊
cybernat
1942🔊
VP Day
1945🔊
hold the ring
1942🔊
Tricolour
1947🔊
real gone
1940🔊
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.