Kick ass and take names means: To beat someone in a competition, fight, or other situation.. It is mainly Canadian English and may not be understood outside that context. It carries sexual or vulgar connotations; not alarming on its own but worth understanding the context your teen heard it in. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
kick ass and take names
(idiomatic, US, Canada, vulgar, colloquial) To beat someone in a competition, fight, or other situation.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1970 · no dated citations yetBoomer / counterculture eraSee decade cohort →
Definitions
GlobalAvoid at work
#1·Apr 27, 2026Global
(idiomatic, US, Canada, vulgar, colloquial) To beat someone in a competition, fight, or other situation.
For parents
Kick ass and take names means: To beat someone in a competition, fight, or other situation.. It is mainly Canadian English and may not be understood outside that context. It carries sexual or vulgar connotations; not alarming on its own but worth understanding the context your teen heard it in. If your teen uses it, context will usually make the intent clear. A short, curious question about where they heard it is usually all that is needed to know whether to follow up.
For ESL learners
kick ass and take names means: To beat someone in a competition, fight, or other situation.. Register: very informal, often derogatory or vulgar. Avoid in formal, business, academic, or polite writing. Even in casual speech the word can offend and is best left out of a learner's active vocabulary. Common learner mistake is using the word in a register it does not fit, or assuming a single global meaning; always check the context before producing it yourself.
Cluster: exhausted
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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🗺️About Regional & Other slang
Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.
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Other words near "kick ass and take names" (K)
kiasuismkiasunesskibeikibozerKichenkick asskick at the cankick bollocks scramblekick buttkickedkick inkicking
Browse all slang words starting with K.
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