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

'Code Black' over the Walmart speakers means severe weather is bearing down — tornado, hurricane, the kind of thing that turns a Supercenter roof into confetti. Staff start funneling customers away from the glass front and toward interior walls, freezers, and back rooms. If you hear it, stop shopping and follow the vest.

Slang for effectively withholding aggressive resuscitation on a terminal patient — a 'do nothing much' code, contrasted with a full code blue.

Public-address alert used by big-box retailers, malls and hospitals when a child is reported missing inside the building. Triggers a lockdown protocol — staff stop what they're doing, monitor exits and sweep the store. If the kid isn't found in 10 minutes, police get called.

EMS slang for a call that turns out to be trivial or a non-emergency.

To arrest, triggering the resuscitation team; from the 'code blue' emergency call. Used as a verb.

Joking, teasing or fooling someone. 'I'm only codding you' = I'm just kidding.

Survives in mainstream English as 'cod-' meaning fake or mock, as in 'cod-Latin' or a 'cod accent'.

A rich hot beverage made by grating a ball of local cocoa into boiling water/milk with spices and sugar.

A small, traditional flat-bottomed fishing boat of the North East coast.

The street or road, from old cobbled surfaces; also evokes the Coronation Street setting.

Rubbish. Nonsense. Bollocks dressed up in a flat cap. When someone says 'a load of (old) cobblers' they're calling it bullshit — the rhyme to 'balls' got buried so deep it now passes on daytime telly.

Nonsense or rubbish; the shortened form of 'cobbler's awls' = balls.

A good friend; now somewhat old-fashioned.

To have a cob on is to be in a foul, sulky mood — face like a slapped arse, energy of a kicked cat. It's grumpy with theatre. Not full rage, just enough to make the room go quiet and someone ask what's up.

A small, round, crusty bread roll. Standard Midlands term — what a Geordie calls a bun, a Mancunian a barm, and a Glaswegian a roll. Sold in bakeries and chippies across Birmingham and Nottingham.

coastal grandmother

A lifestyle vibe centered on calm, comfort, and quiet wealth regardless of your actual age.

When a player takes the ball from their own defensive end all the way to the opposite basket to score.

A mixed-gender idol group, uncommon in an industry dominated by single-gender lineups (e.g. KARD).

How a lot of the Mid-South — Memphis especially — actually says 'Coca-Cola.' Doubles as the generic word for any fizzy drink, same way 'coke' works across the rest of the South: you order a co-cola, then they ask what kind.

Fake abbreviation aping a real lab report: 'Central Nervous System: Quantity Not Sufficient.' QNS is genuine pathology shorthand for a sample too small to test. Bolted onto CNS, it becomes a sly insult about the patient's intelligence, written nowhere but spoken everywhere.

A BTTV emote for confusion or disbelief, spammed when chat doesn't get what's happening.

Someone who tells tales or informs on others; as a verb, to snitch.

Used adjectivally for anything densely decorated and maximal.

Houston, named for what the Rockets did in 1994 and 1995 — winning two straight NBA championships after the local paper had already written them off as chokers. The nickname is half civic pride, half permanent receipt for that headline. Still the city's go-to handle in sports media and street wear.