"D" Slang

delulu

Gen Z

Delusional — usually in a light, self-aware way, about something you badly want to be true. Often paired with the phrase "delulu is the solulu" (delusion is the solution).

delusional confidence

Internet

Confidence so strong that it appears unrealistic or unsupported by the facts.

delusionship

Gen Z

A one-sided romantic fantasy about someone who barely knows you exist — treating a crush as if it were a real relationship.

demon time

Music

Late-night hours when people get up to wild, reckless, or aggressive behaviour. In drill/rap it signals menacing energy on a track.

demonstration

General

A staged kicking on the wing. Not a random scrap — a deliberate, public-ish beating meant to show the recipient (and everyone watching) where the line is. Debts, disrespect, snitching: any of it can earn you a demonstration.

demure

Internet

Carries a knowing, in-on-the-joke tone — saying "very demure" signals you're referencing the meme, not actually claiming modesty.

dench

British Mle

Excellent, impressive or great — a term of strong approval.

dene

General

A small valley, frequently wooded, as in Jesmond Dene.

denpa

Internet

A character who seems detached or dissociated from reality and the people around them, often behaving in an unsettling, off-kilter way. Also names an associated bizarre music/media style.

density

General

The hard, thick quality of muscle that comes with low body fat and mature development, so it looks dense rather than soft.

deny

Gaming

A Dota thing. When your own creep drops below half health, you can last hit it yourself - denying the enemy the gold and cutting the XP they'd get. You're not just farming, you're starving them. Tower about to die? Deny it too.

denying the ball

General

A defensive tactic of getting between an opponent and the ball to prevent them catching a pass.

departure lounge

General

British hospital slang for the elderly-care ward, on the grim logic that a fair number of patients won't be leaving by the front door. Pure NHS dark humour, used by staff among themselves and never within earshot of families.

depeg

Internet

To slip from a fixed price target — typically a stablecoin drifting from its 1:1 peg — due to lost confidence, thin reserves, panic, or a broken stabilisation mechanism.

dependa

General

A pejorative for a military dependent, especially a spouse stereotyped as lazy or entitled to benefits.

deprioritize

General

To reduce the importance or urgency assigned to a task or project.

derby

General

A fixture between two clubs from the same city or region, carrying extra tension and rivalry.

dere

Internet

The affectionate 'dere-dere' element that combines with other traits (tsun, yan, kuu, dan) to form the -dere family of character types.

deredere

Internet

A character who is straightforwardly cheerful, doting and full of open affection toward the person they love, with none of the concealment of the tsundere or kuudere.

descuéntate

General

A command to leave or get lost, in Chicano Caló.

desmaya esa talla

General

An instruction to drop a subject or let something go and move on. 'Talla' here = a chat/story.

desu

Internet

A Japanese polite sentence-ending verb (roughly 'is/are'), famous in Western fandom as a stereotypical 'weeb' verbal tic tacked onto sentences for effect.

detail

General

A specific duty or chore assigned to a group of service members, often menial like cleaning or KP.

deuce

Street

A 1962 Chevrolet Impala — one of the holy-grail lowrider bodies, sat right between the '61 and the legendary '64. Lines clean, X-frame solid, sits perfect on hydros.

deuce and a half

General

The standard 2½-ton military cargo truck, long a workhorse for hauling troops and supplies. Often shortened to 'deuce.'

deuce gear

General

The organizational load-bearing field equipment issued to a Marine — belt, harness, and pouches (from the old '782 gear' designation).

devil dog

General

Nickname Marines wear with pride, supposedly given by German troops at the Battle of Belleau Wood in 1918, who allegedly called the attacking Marines 'Teufelhunden' — devil dogs — for their ferocity. Historians argue whether the Germans ever actually said it, but the Corps adopted the term immediately for recruiting posters and it's been Marine identity ever since. Still used in mottos, mascots and motivational shouting.

devil's lettuce

Street

A humorous nickname for cannabis mocking old anti-drug moralizing.

devious lick

Internet

A theft — usually petty, usually from school — filmed or shown off on TikTok. The whole point is the flex, not the loot.

devoed

General

Properly cut up about something. Scouse contraction of 'devastated' — applied to anything from a Liverpool loss to running out of brown sauce.

devotchka

General

Used more loosely for any female the speaker fancies or notices, with a streetwise tone.

deward

Gaming

To find and destroy enemy wards — usually with a sentry for True Sight — so they lose vision of the map. Dewarding before a move means they never see you coming.

dewdropper

General

A lazy young man who does no work and often sleeps through the day; an idler.

dex

Internet

A Decentralised Exchange lets users trade tokens directly from their wallets through smart contracts, without a custodial middleman. Uniswap and Curve are examples.

dey

Street

One of the most fundamental words in Nigerian Pidgin grammar. It expresses existence ("to be/is") and also marks continuous or habitual action, similar to English "-ing."

dfac

General

The Dining Facility, pronounced 'dee-fack,' where troops eat their meals; also called the mess hall or chow hall.

dfo

General

Shorthand for a patient who fell — either literally 'done fell out' (of bed/chair) or 'drunk and fell over.'

dhobi

General

Laundry. Your washing, the act of doing it, or the place it happens. Still in active use in the Navy and Marines — 'dhobi day' is wash day.

di (directional influence)

Gaming

When you get launched, holding the control stick perpendicular to your knockback curves your trajectory. Good DI is the difference between dying at 90% and living to 140%, it's the most important defensive skill in Smash and you can't see it on the surface.

diache

General

A soft Puerto Rican exclamation of surprise, a euphemistic stand-in for 'diablo'.

dialed

General

Describes a trick a rider can land consistently and cleanly, or a bike tuned to perfection. Being dialed means it is reliable and just right.

dialed in

General

Describes a physique that has hit its optimal, competition-ready look, everything peaking on point. Also written 'dialed-in'.

diamond hands

Internet

Describes an investor with the conviction to keep holding an asset through steep drawdowns and volatility rather than selling. Often shown with the 💎🙌 emoji.

diamonds

Street

Crystalline structures of concentrated cannabinoids, usually THCA, that form within high-terpene sauce; extremely potent when dabbed.

dibble

General

The police. A Manchester slang term, popularised by (and sometimes credited to) local usage referencing Officer Dibble from Top Cat.

dibs

General

The winter practice of claiming a parking space you dug out of the snow by marking it with chairs, cones, or junk.

diced

General

A physique displaying extremely low body fat and hard, defined muscle separation.

diddly-squat

General

Absolutely nothing; the least amount. Often "don't know diddly-squat."