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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Gen Z Slangrizz, delulu, slay Internet Slangbrainrot, based, mid British Slangpeng, bare, peak AAVEbussin, finna, cap

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Latest slang terms

hurry-up offense

An offensive strategy designed to run plays quickly and gain yards while using as little clock as possible.

hurry up and wait

The military pattern of being ordered to prepare and assemble quickly only to stand idle while nothing happens.

hurricane party

A Gulf Coast tradition: when a hurricane's headed your way and you've decided not to evacuate, you tape the windows, fill the bathtub, and throw a party. Burn the freezer food before the power goes, kill the liquor before the roof does. Equal parts gallows humour and genuine community ritual — neighbours ride it out together so nobody's alone when the lights cut.

Honey with a switchblade. A blend of 'honey' and 'cunty' used to address someone with affection, attitude, or both at once. Tone does all the work: it can be a warm 'hey hunty' or a withering one. Reclaimed slang, so it lands differently depending on who's saying it.

Slang pronunciation of 'hundred,' meaning $100.

To squat on the heels, or figuratively to dig in and wait something out.

Someone with a huge appetite who eats a lot or is greedy with food.

hundreds and thousands

Tiny coloured sugar sprinkles used on cakes and on 'fairy bread'.

To carry or lift a load, especially on a long forced march under a full pack. Also the march itself.

Fingerless gloves or mittens in Doric. Specifically the chunky knitted ones with no separate fingers — what farmers and fishermen wore to keep hands warm while still being able to work.

'Human Intelligence' — intelligence collected and provided by human sources such as informants, interrogations, and reconnaissance patrols, as opposed to technical means.

To trouble or harass someone; to be a nuisance. Used as verb and noun.

The nickname Michael Lewis gave a particular Salomon Brothers government bond trader in Liar's Poker — a man whose sentences were so densely packed with obscenity that the profanity essentially became the grammar. Stand-in for the unhinged verbal culture of the 1980s bond floor.

Getting mentally and physically amped before attempting a heavy lift, like the Hulk powering up.

A young woman or girlfriend in Chicano Caló; also spelled 'güisa'.

A rider known for throwing themselves into big tricks and jumps with abandon rather than polish. It can be admiring or slightly mocking depending on tone.

Kool-Aid frozen in a paper cup, sometimes with fruit or condensed milk thrown in, sold for a quarter out the front door by somebody's auntie. Pure New Orleans Black neighborhood summer. You bite the top, flip the cup, and squeeze. Spelled half a dozen ways but everybody knows what you mean.

To launch into a trick or off a large jump haphazardly, with more commitment than technique or regard for safety. It implies going for it and hoping it works out.

An inclined ledge that runs down beside a staircase, used for grinds and slides that descend with the stairs.

High-Terpene Full-Spectrum Extract, a top-grade concentrate that preserves the full range of terpenes and cannabinoids in a syrupy, often crystallizing form.

The number of heartbeats per minute; a core vital sign.

'Headquarters' — the command element and central location from which a military unit is directed and administered.

Throwing out, or the time a pub closes and empties out.

To throw, chuck, lob. The everyday Geordie verb for getting rid of something or passing it across a room. 'Hoy it ower' = chuck it over. Also used metaphorically: 'hoy it in the bin', 'hoyed out of the pub'.