"M" Slang

mete tremenda muela

General

Said of someone who talks way too much or launches into long-winded speeches.

meteor smash

Gaming

An attack that launches the opponent straight down. The catch (in games with meteor cancelling, like Melee) is the victim can negate it with a precise jump or up-B, so a meteor smash isn't always the guaranteed kill a spike is.

method

General

A stylish grab air, borrowed from snowboarding roots, in which the rider grabs the heel edge and tweaks the board up behind them by bending the knees, arching the body for maximum style.

metiche

General

Someone who pries into others' business; a nosy person.

metroplex

Street

Catch-all for the sprawl that includes Dallas, Fort Worth, Arlington, Plano, Frisco and the rest. The North Texas Commission rolled out 'Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex' in 1972 because the cities needed a unified brand for business recruitment. Locals now use it as a generic 'the area.'

meuf

General

From the standard French 'femme' (woman). Verlan inverts the syllables: fe-mme becomes meu-f, hence 'meuf'. It means a woman or girl, used casually rather than as an insult.

mev

Internet

Maximal (or Miner) Extractable Value is the profit that block producers or bots can extract by strategically including, excluding, or reordering transactions within a block, e.g. via front-running.

mew

Internet

Resting your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, supposedly to reshape your jaw and sharpen your cheekbones over time. The signature move of looksmaxxing TikTok. Whether it actually does anything is heavily disputed; whether teens believe it does is not.

mewing

Internet

A jaw-defining technique where you hold your tongue against the roof of your mouth, claimed to improve facial structure over time. Core to 'looksmaxxing' culture.

mfw

Internet

Stands for "my face when," used to caption a reaction image expressing how you feel.

mgbago

Street

Trader slang used specifically for travelling overseas, especially for business purposes.

mgbeke

Street

Mgbeke is first and foremost a genuine, traditional Igbo personal name given to a girl born on Èke, one of the four days of the Igbo market week — it carries no negative meaning on its own. In some casual/street speech, however, the name has been repurposed as a put-down for a girl seen as unrefined, old-fashioned, or 'too local,' the way a name can become shorthand for a stereotype. That derogatory use can genuinely offend and is not how the name is used or intended within families who give it.

mi

General

Death of heart muscle caused by blocked blood flow through a coronary artery.

mi cyaan believe it

General

An exclamation of disbelief or dismay; title of a famous Michael Smith dub-poetry piece.

mi deh yah

General

Literally 'I am here'; the standard reply to 'wa gwaan' meaning 'I'm alright / just here holding it down'.

micey

General

Slightly unstable, strange or not quite right in the head.

michigan left

General

Instead of turning left at a big divided-highway intersection, you go straight through, hang a U-turn at a dedicated median crossover down the road, then make a right at the intersection. Sounds insane the first time someone describes it; locals swear it's faster and safer. Heavily used along divided arterials in metro Detroit and around the state.

mickey mouse cup

General

A dismissive term for a trophy or tournament regarded as minor or lacking prestige.

micro-cheating

Internet

Used to debate where the line of loyalty actually sits in modern relationships.

micro-mance

Internet

A dating approach that values tiny, consistent acts of thoughtfulness, like a good-morning text or a saved snack, above big-budget romantic gestures. Little things add up.

micro-retirement

General

Deliberately taking an extended break from work, often months long, during one's career to rest or travel, rather than deferring all leisure to traditional retirement.

microcheating

Internet

Microcheating is a pattern of minor, secretive behaviors, heavy flirting, hidden messages, or emotional intimacy with someone else, that betray a partner's trust without crossing a physical line.

micromanaging

General

A management style that closely controls or monitors every detail of subordinates' work, undermining their autonomy and often lowering morale and trust.

micros

General

Short for micronutrients, the vitamins and minerals such as iron and calcium the body needs in small amounts.

microwave

General

A player, often a bench scorer, who gets hot and pours in points very quickly.

mid

Internet

Mediocre — distinctly average and not worth the hype. A dismissive rating for something overrated.

mid-range

General

The area roughly 15-22 feet out, between the paint and the arc, where two-point jumpers are taken.

mid-rats

General

A meal served around midnight for personnel working night shifts or standing watch.

mid-tier

Internet

Describes something of middling quality, neither top-tier nor bad. A ranking-flavored cousin of "mid."

midden

General

A dunghill or rubbish tip; figuratively, any filthy or chaotic mess. 'Yer room's a midden'.

middlin

General

Average, ordinary or only moderately well. Common Northern reply about health or quality.

middy

General

A smaller beer glass, roughly 285ml, common in New South Wales.

mids

Street

Cannabis of middling quality: not premium, not garbage.

might could

General

A double-modal construction meaning "might be able to," softening a statement of possibility. A signature of Southern grammar.

mijo

General

A contraction of 'mi hijo' used affectionately for a son, child, or as a warm address; 'mija' for a girl.

mike

General

Nickname for the middle linebacker, who often makes the defensive calls; the quarterback frequently 'points out the Mike' before the snap.

military enlistment

Internet

South Korea's compulsory military service, which most male idols must complete, typically pausing their group activities for around 18 months. A major planning factor for boy groups.

milk bar

General

A small neighbourhood shop selling milkshakes, snacks, newspapers and groceries.

milk of amnesia

General

Pun for propofol, an IV anaesthetic that is a white emulsion and causes amnesia — a play on 'milk of magnesia.'

milk run

General

A routine, low-risk sortie against an easy or familiar target. Said with cheerful sarcasm — because every veteran knew a milk run could turn into a bloodbath the moment the flak got lucky.

milk the bong

Street

To draw smoke slowly into a bong's chamber until it fills with thick, milky smoke before clearing it in one inhalation.

milking

Gaming

Instead of killing a boss fast, you deliberately keep it alive and farm points off it for as long as you can. Usually done on bosses; 'leeching' is the cousin term for milking regular enemies. Big scores live and die on how hard you milk.

milkshake duck

Internet

Any beloved internet darling who, the moment they go viral, gets dug up as a racist, abuser, or worse. The cycle is the joke: adoration, deep-dive, downfall, all before the news cycle ends. Named after Ben Ward's prophetic 2016 tweet that basically described every viral feel-good story since.

milli

Internet

Slang shortening of 'million,' meaning $1,000,000.

milwaukee goiter

General

Old American slang for a big distended beer belly, attributed to Milwaukee — the brewery capital of the US. A goiter is a swelling of the thyroid in the neck; the joke transplants it to the gut and blames it on chronic lager. Dates back to at least the 1930s, picked up by clinicians as a polite-sounding way to flag the same thing on rounds. German goiter is the variant when the patient looks more Munich than Midwest.

mina

General

By extension, used affectionately or possessively for a partner, the way English uses 'my girl'.

mince

General

To walk with short, dainty, affected steps — all swish and attitude. In Polari it's the camp strut, a way of moving that announces itself. Equal parts how-you-walk and how-you-own-the-room.

mince pies

General

The eyes. 'Mince pies' rhymes with 'eyes', and is clipped to 'minces', dropping the rhyme.