Slang Dictionary — Modern Slang, Decoded

A term of high praise for someone who has done something helpful or impressive.

An inmate known for legal knowledge who assists others with filings and case research.

A training session focused on the lower body — quads, hamstrings, glutes and calves — notorious for being the hardest and most avoided.

A soldier who is not airborne-qualified, used by paratroopers to distinguish those who have not earned their jump wings. Also rendered as the backronym 'Low Energy Grunt.'

The alphabet of letter-to-symbol substitutions, also called 'leetspeak', used to obscure or stylize text.

Individual variant of 'bloodsuckers,' referring to a person who takes blood samples.

A low wall, block, or raised curb-like surface used for grinds and slides; a staple of street and plaza skating.

Electricity, particularly the domestic supply or bill.

A curt request to stop doing or saying something, or an expression of disbelief.

Classic nickname for a US Marine, dating to the late 1700s when Marines wore a stiff leather neck-stock as part of the uniform — both to enforce upright bearing and to protect the throat from cutlass slashes in boarding actions. The leather collar is gone but the name stuck for over two centuries. 'Leatherneck' is also the title of the Corps' long-running magazine, founded 1917.

Not just a guy in a leather jacket. A leatherman is someone fully inside the leather subculture — the fetish dress, the BDSM scene, the codes and the brotherhood that come with it. Rooted in post-WWII gay biker and fetish circles, it's an identity as much as a wardrobe. There's protocol, there's community, there's history behind it.

The banner of the whole leather/kink community. Nine equal horizontal stripes — black and royal blue alternating out from a single white stripe in the middle — with a big red heart in the top-left corner. Tony DeBlase designed it and first flew it at International Mr. Leather on 28 May 1989, timed to Stonewall's 20th anniversary so leatherfolk had their own simple, elegant symbol. DeBlase deliberately assigned no fixed meaning to the colours: 'I will leave it to the viewer to interpret.'

A chosen-family unit inside leather culture, organised around mentorship, lineage, and shared values rather than blood ties. Often hierarchical, with leather titleholders, mentors, and protégés bound by household structure and tradition. It's social and organisational scaffolding, the way leather culture passes itself down and gives members a place to belong.

The cover is the leather (often muir/motorcycle-style) cap, and in Old Guard protocol it carried real weight. Headgear was reserved for Tops or experienced/heavy bottoms — not just anyone could put one on. And the cardinal rule: never touch another man's cover. Handling someone's cap without that level of intimacy is a serious breach of etiquette. The cap reads as rank.

At the start of the game, laners walk into the jungle and throw a few hits at the jungler's first camp so it clears faster — but pull off before the killing blow so the jungler gets the XP. Sets up a faster, healthier clear.

Things learned from a project or experiment, framed as a countable noun.

Building muscle with a moderate calorie surplus from quality foods, prioritizing minimal fat gain over rapid size.

All of the body's non-fat tissue, including muscle, bone, organs and skin; the mass bodybuilders want to build and keep while dieting.

The designated member who speaks for the group, keeps order, and often gives group speeches or interviews. Usually, but not always, an older member.

A member who sings substantial vocal parts and often supports or shares high notes with the main vocalist during live shows.

Cuban expression of astonishment or exasperation, that something is extreme or over the top.

On hobbyist boards, LE means Law Enforcement — specifically the threat of one. 'Is she LE?' is the first question on any new ad, and 'LE check' threads catalogue sting patterns, cop tells and busted incalls. The whole etiquette of the trade is built around not getting caught by LE.

Long Beach City. The G-funk capital, immortalised by Snoop Dogg, Warren G, Nate Dogg and the whole Dogg Pound. If you hear 'LBC' on a record, somebody's about to rep Long Beach.

A method where an NFT isn't written to the blockchain until it's purchased, so the creator avoids upfront gas and the buyer pays it at sale.