English dictionary, thesaurus, translations & etymology

Slang Dictionary — Modern Slang, Decoded

What does that word actually mean? Our slang dictionary explains modern slang clearly — Gen Z, internet, British and street slang — with real definitions, examples and where each term came from.

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Latest slang terms

An intensifier meaning intensely, wildly, or to a great degree.

like a house on fire

Of people, getting on very well together; or progressing rapidly.

A filler placed at the end of a sentence for emphasis or as a verbal full stop, characteristic of Geordie speech.

lightstick ocean

The dazzling field of coordinated fandom lightsticks that lights up an arena during a concert, often in a signature color. A hallmark image of K-pop concerts.

An official, group-branded battery-powered glow stick that fans bring to K-pop concerts. Each group has its own shape — ARMY Bomb (BTS), Carat Bong (Seventeen), Candy Bong (TWICE) — and they sync via Bluetooth so the whole arena lights up in coordinated waves. Owning your group's lightstick is basically the membership card.

The day or daylight; the canting word for daytime, the hours for begging, casing houses and lying low.

A style of short, easy-to-read Japanese novel aimed at young readers, usually with anime-style illustrations and frequently adapted into anime.

light attack weaving

The bread-and-butter rhythm of ESO endgame: fire a light attack, cast an ability, repeat. Done clean, you're basically doubling your damage output for free. Get the timing wrong and you clip your own attack.

light a fire under

To motivate or push someone to get moving on a task.

To launch a swift, unexpected assault on another inmate.

As a noun, a theft or the trade of stealing — and 'the lift' was a recognised canting law (con) of its own.

A prisoner doing a life sentence. On the wing, lifers are a tribe of their own — settled in, often calmer than the short-stretch lads, because for them this isn't a phase, it's the address.

A mate, lad, or geezer. The Scouse equivalent of 'bro' or 'pal' — used to address a friend or refer to a bloke. Can be warm or sarcastic depending on tone. Often heard in 'alright, lid?' as a greeting.

Describes someone greedy, grasping, or fawning — willing to debase themselves for a small treat or favour.

Blows or corporal punishment; can be literal or figurative, as in a sports thrashing.

Describing someone excessively fond of eating or eager for a particular food.

To strike and knock down; frequently used for being hit by a car. Also lick-dung.

A robbery, or more loosely any quick, opportunistic come-up — could be a stick-up, a scam, a flipped bag, a plug. 'Hit a lick' = pulled off the score. Born in Southern street slang, weaponised by Chicago drill and now standard across rap.

Time off from duty when a sailor or Marine may leave the base or ship, short for 'liberty.'

A blatant injustice — a price hike, a dodgy ref decision, your mate eating the last chip. 'That's a liberty, that' is the standard cry. Wider British usage but Geordies wield it constantly.

A bluffing game traders play on the desk using the eight-digit serial numbers on dollar bills. Each player treats their bill's digits as a hidden hand and bids on how many of a given digit are present across everyone's bills combined. You either raise the bid or call the previous player a liar. Famously the favoured pastime of Salomon Brothers bond traders in the 1980s.

Short for love interest. Fanfic and BookTok shorthand for the romantic target in a story — the one the MC is orbiting, pining over, or already entangled with. Plural LIs are common in poly plots and otome games.

The default crypto-Twitter celebration shout. Posted when a coin pumps, a mint sells out, an airdrop lands, or honestly any time something good happens. Adopted from sports/gaming culture and weaponised by crypto into a near-religious chant.

A meadow or grassy field. Older Black Country / Brummie usage — 'on the lezzers' means out in the fields. You'll still see it preserved in road and farm names round the West Midlands.