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.
1940s — 26 terms
Showing top 26 by views40
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bussin
1940🔥 Gen Z & TikTok
tiktok
🔊cap
1940🔥 Gen Z & TikTok
tiktok
🔊no cap
1940🔥 Gen Z & TikTok
tiktok
🔊bet
1940🔥 Gen Z & TikTok
tiktok
🔊frfr
1940🔥 Gen Z & TikTok
texting
🔊servo
1940🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊finna
1940🔥 Gen Z & TikTok
tiktok
🔊taking the piss
1948🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊burn coal
1946🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊derv
1948🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊girlie
1940👗 Fashion & Lifestyle
bluesky
🔊abdabs
1946🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊jet fuel
1944⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊jaygee
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊A-Day
1947⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊90-day wonder
1942⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊PLAN
1949🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊K-12
1948🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Californication
1947🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊Edgar
1946⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊Mr Plod
1949🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊A-bomb
1945⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊11-plus examination
1944🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊A&E
1948🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
1944🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊A-II
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊gaslight
1944🌐 Internet & Memes
bluesky
🔊pisscutter
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊party political broadcast
1947🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
bluesky
🔊action stations
1940🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊4F
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊nit nurse
1942⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊P60
1944🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊groovy
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊axe
1940🎵 Music & Lyrics
🔊chops
1940🎵 Music & Lyrics
bluesky
🔊Herkimer Jerkimer
1940🎤 Black culture & AAVE
🔊radar
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊Winnipeg couch
1945🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊light bill
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊brainstorm
1945⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊googolplex
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊VP Day
1945🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊knockers
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊Nikon choir
1946⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊impeachment
1945⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊shufti
1940🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊brupper
1949🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊ronson
1940🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
bluesky
🔊cybernat
1942🌐 Internet & Memes
🔊pushbike
1940🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊Dumbo ear
1941🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊fortune cookie
1942🍔 Food & Drink
🔊catbird seat
1942🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Dunkirk spirit
1940🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊sprog
1940🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊Bambi lover
1942🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊millennial
1947⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
youtube
🔊oater
1945⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊cowabunga
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊Janet and John
1949🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊country ham
1944🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Duckburg
1944🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊quinella
1942🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊candy striper
1944🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊bob-a-job
1949🇬🇧 British & Irish slang
🔊Big Bang
1949🎤 Black culture & AAVE
bluesky
🔊brownie point
1944⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊ten pound tourist
1946⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊Hills Hoist
1945🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊honky
1946🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊green card
1946🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊reindeer games
1949🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊pac-a-mac
1949⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊boondocker
1944🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊crapola
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊laundromat
1940👗 Fashion & Lifestyle
bluesky
🔊pruno
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Gossage
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊grok
1949⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊Fibber McGee's closet
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊de Havilland Law
1943🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊twitterpated
1942🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Harlem sunset
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel
1942🇦🇺 Australian & NZ slang
🔊comely maidens
1943🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊copperfasten
1948⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊asswipe
1947🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊like turkeys voting for Christmas
1944⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊cock up
1948🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊closet case
1946🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊cop out
1942⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊Fauci ouchie
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊know shit from Shinola
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊boofhead
1940🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊ten pound pom
1946⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊Smokey Bear
1944⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊diaper wrap
1949⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊bhapa
1947🗺️ Regional & Other
🔊fucking A
1947🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊hot rod
1945🗺️ Regional & Other
bluesky
🔊hold the ring
1942⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
🔊lilo
1940⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bluesky
🔊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.