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

Self-produced creative works — comics, games, music and more — made by individuals or circles independently of commercial publishers, driven by passion rather than profit.

A person of mixed Afro-Caribbean and Indo-Caribbean heritage; more broadly, someone of mixed race.

Slang for the CT scanner, named for its ring-shaped gantry.

A nickname for a US Army soldier, most strongly associated with the American infantry of World War I.

Jocular slang for money, punning on the musical solfège 'do-re-mi.'

Used casually to talk about money in general.

The 'in-between' frames drawn between key frames (genga) to create fluid motion in animation.

A folkloric child-spirit with backward-pointing feet and no face, said to lure children into the forest. Also dwen.

A light aluminum coin stamped with a krewe's logo on one side and the parade theme on the other, tossed by float riders into the crowd. Invented by Rex in 1960 and copied by every krewe since. Step on one before you grab it — the locals' rule — or you'll get your fingers stomped.

An iconic street snack of curried channa (chickpeas) sandwiched in two pieces of soft fried bara bread, with pepper and chutney.

Reaching ten or more in two of points, rebounds, assists, steals or blocks in a single game.

double-digit midget

A service member with fewer than 100 days remaining on a deployment or enlistment, so the countdown fits in double digits.

When two waves combine to form a single bigger, more powerful wave, often heaving and hard to read.

Two teammates swing out of cover together so a single defender can't shoot both. They either freeze deciding who to hit, or commit to one and the other trades instantly.

Slang for a $20 note — two sawbucks' worth.

A grind or stall performed on both pegs on one side of the bike simultaneously, giving two contact points on the rail or ledge. It is one of the most stable and fundamental grinds.

double overhead

A wave with a face about twice the height of a standing surfer, i.e. serious, powerful surf.

Two fives = double nickels = 55 mph. Specifically the hated national speed limit imposed in the US by the 1974 Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act, kept on the books until 1995. Truckers loathed it because it tanked their delivery times and revenue, and 'doing the double nickels' became code for crawling along under the federal limit just to avoid a ticket.

The bigger brother of the single jack — usually 6 to 10 pounds on a short handle, swung with both hands. Comes from mining, where the 'double jack' team had one man holding the steel and another swinging. Today it's the go-to for driving stakes, busting concrete, and any masonry job where a full sledge is overkill but a hand hammer won't cut it.

A flip trick in which the board completes two full rotations along its axis during a single ollie, such as a double kickflip.

To increase effort or investment in a strategy, especially one already underway.

Modifier on a blended drink — run it through the blender a second time so the ice breaks down further and the texture goes silky-smooth instead of chunky. Adds 20 seconds to your wait and baristas quietly hate it during a rush.

A 12–16 hour stretch where you open for lunch, ride the lull, then go straight into dinner service. Standard survival mode in restaurants — picked up for the money, regretted by hour 10.

A shotgun. The spray of pellets leaves a pattern of dots — that's the etymology. Heavier piece in the drill arsenal, more associated with serious beef and older heads than the everyday handgun (leng).