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.
1950s — 27 terms
Showing top 27 by viewsparasocial
1956🌐 Internet & Memes
after a while, crocodile
1955🗺️ Regional & Other
far out
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
bada bing bada boom
1958🗺️ Regional & Other
esky
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
pea-souper
1952🗺️ Regional & Other
cancerette
1953🗺️ Regional & Other
Yahtzee
1956🌐 Internet & Memes
24 Sussex Drive
1958🗺️ Regional & Other
if-by-whiskey
1952🗺️ Regional & Other
kueh pie tee
1956🍔 Food & Drink
lavender lad
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
Manipogo
1957⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Hansardize
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
electron gap
1950⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
I just work here
1950🌐 Internet & Memes
Palookaville
1954🗺️ Regional & Other
padayatra
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
merry widow
1952🗺️ Regional & Other
bug out
1950⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
one-way ticket to Palookaville
1954⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
happy little vegemite
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
I know you are but what am I
1957🌐 Internet & Memes
German chocolate cake
1957🗺️ Regional & Other
in a while, crocodile
1955🗺️ Regional & Other
bazoom
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
Darwin stubby
1958🗺️ Regional & Other
empty suit
1950⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
done and dusted
1953🗺️ Regional & Other
sheepshagger
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
top of the morning
1959⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
codswallop
1959🗺️ Regional & Other
Bo Derek
1956🗺️ Regional & Other
bint
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
bash the bishop
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
brainiac
1958🗺️ Regional & Other
grinch foot
1957🗺️ Regional & Other
Journey into Space
1953🗺️ Regional & Other
pothead
1957🗺️ Regional & Other
lurgy
1951🗺️ Regional & Other
grinch paw
1957🗺️ Regional & Other
fox
1953⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
jolly-hockey-sticks
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
hedgehog
1953⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
cruft
1959⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
frob
1958👗 Fashion & Lifestyle
pull the football
1951🗺️ Regional & Other
brasco
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
gobsmacked
1959🗺️ Regional & Other
Broderick Crawford
1950⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
mumbo sauce
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
go ballistic
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
grinch toe
1957🗺️ Regional & Other
body snatcher
1955⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
hot button
1956🗺️ Regional & Other
grinch
1957🗺️ Regional & Other
lovely jubbly
1950⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
Beeb
1950⚡ Tech, Dev & AI
bullhorn
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
Golden Horseshoe
1954🗺️ Regional & Other
finger-lickin' good
1956💼 Corporate & Work
ridgy-didge
1953🗺️ Regional & Other
buddyroo
1951🗺️ Regional & Other
jungle bunny
1950🗺️ Regional & Other
Israeli couscous
1953🗺️ 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.