Slang Dictionary — Modern Slang, Decoded

A job chosen for balance and ease over ambition.

Used as a call to start dancing in earnest.

Started as an insult and got worn as a badge. The phrase is tied to Betty Friedan, who saw lesbians as a 'lavender menace' that would discredit second-wave feminism. So in 1970 a group of lesbian radical feminists stormed the Second Congress to Unite Women in tie-dyed lavender tees reading exactly that, handed out the manifesto 'The Woman-Identified Woman,' and took the stage. They reclaimed the slur on the spot. Now it reads as a founding moment of lesbian feminism, not a smear.

Any ramp or kicker used to send a rider up and off into the air. A launch ramp has no matching landing, so the rider comes back down to flat or another feature.

In Polari, a house, flat, lodging or room. Likely from Italian 'letto' (bed) or 'latta', reflecting the cant's Romance borrowings.

Slang for the latissimus dorsi, the large back muscles that create width and power pulling movements.

A basic-training trainee given responsibility for the cleanliness of the latrines.

A toss of the ball to a teammate who is even with or behind the passer; unlike a forward pass, it can happen anywhere and multiple times.

In MOBAs you only get a creep's gold if you deal the final blow. So you don't just spray - you wait, time the hit, and snatch the kill at the right moment. Clean last hitting is the most basic skill that separates good players from feeders.

A girl or young woman; 'lass' is the shorter form.

A woman or young girl. 'The lass' can also mean one's girlfriend or wife.

A large amount, plenty; usually of food or drink.

Raining heavily. Standard Irish weather report. Often paired with 'down' or 'out of the heavens' for emphasis. Not a drizzle, not a shower — proper sideways, soak-you-in-thirty-seconds rain.

Used as the low-maintenance alternative in the lash conversation versus extensions.

To strike forcefully, or colloquially to 'lash a drink' / 'lash some food' (consume with gusto).

You step out, an AR or SMG spray catches you clean, and you're down before you can react. Fast, accurate, no counterplay — you got lasered.

An advanced flip trick combining a 360 frontside shove-it with a heelflip, essentially the heelflip counterpart to a treflip.

A person who is boisterous, cheeky and disregards convention, usually harmlessly.

To accuse someone of performing a fake identity online, claiming to be a Navy SEAL, a hedge fund manager, a recovering addict, a witness to a news event, for clout or roleplay rather than because it's true. The implication is that the whole account is costume.

The Calatrava-designed cable-stayed bridge that opened over the Trinity River in 2012, officially the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge. Locals immediately shortened her name and gave the giant white arch a Pee-wee's Big Adventure rebrand. Sometimes 'Big Marge' too.

A big, long-hood conventional tractor — usually a Peterbilt 379/389 or Kenworth W900 — decked out with chrome, lights, and stretched frames. Not just a truck, a statement. If you're driving a large car, you didn't buy it to be practical.

Slang unit meaning $1,000, used after a number.

The unmistakable gait of someone on chlorpromazine (brand name Largactil) or similar major tranquillisers — feet barely lifting, arms slack, the whole body moving at half speed. Common in British prisons and psychiatric units where Largactil was the workhorse sedative for decades. Also called the 'Largactil shuffle' on locked wards.

A single circuit of riding down the mountain and taking the lift back up, counted to track a day's riding. Riders talk about getting in as many laps as possible.