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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

A bread roll (barm) filled with chips. A Manchester/Lancashire staple.

A slow marching shuffle done to soca while following a music truck through the streets during Carnival.

A catch-up between people who haven't spoken in a while.

Korean for friend, used casually among same-age peers; idols the same age are 'chingu' and can drop honorifics with each other.

A braided wire-mesh sleeve that slides over a cable end. Pull on the eye and the weave constricts around the cable — same principle as the finger-trap toy kids play with. Electricians use them to pull cable through conduit without damaging the jacket; riggers use them on rope.

Clipped to 'china', a close pal or trusted companion.

The shortened form of 'china plate', Cockney rhyming slang for mate/friend.

An encouragement to stay cheerful and resilient in adversity.

A pitch deliberately thrown up and in, near the batter's head, to intimidate him and move him off the plate.

A sudden blow to the face used to see if a new or suspect inmate will defend himself.

A mild exclamation of annoyance or dismay, like 'darn' or 'shoot'.

In some contexts and regions it can be vulgar or negative, so tone and place matter.

A portable insulated container used to keep food and drinks cold, especially at the beach or a barbecue. The Australian equivalent is 'esky'.

A traditional straight, funnel-shaped clay or stone pipe with no carb, smoked by cupping the hands around the base. Often used as a single-hit pipe.

Spanglish verb meaning to relax or hang out.

A Spanglish blend of 'chilling' and 'relaxing' — kicking back in a very lazy, easy way.

The bumps that rise on the skin from cold, fear, or emotion.

A drawled, dropped-'d' version of 'child,' used to open or punctuate a story with attitude.

children / house children

The children are the members of a house, taken in and raised by the house mother and father. They get coached to walk balls, schooled in the scene, and folded into a chosen family — bonding as siblings under the same roof. The word carries the whole logic of ballroom: houses are alternative families built by and for Black and Latino LGBTQ people the wider world shut out.

The children of a house are its younger members — taken in, taught and repped by the mother and father. They're each other's brothers and sisters, and they carry the house name when they walk. It's not babying: 'children' is about lineage and belonging. You get adopted, you get raised, you grow into a legend yourself one day.

Someone from Mexico City; can be neutral or teasing depending on who says it.

The senior NCO of an artillery battery or platoon below the First Sergeant, responsible for the guns; often shortened to 'Smoke.'

The forced honorific Australian prisoners use to address officers — equivalent to 'boss' or 'guv' elsewhere. Not respect, just compliance: address them right or wear the consequences. Heard across NSW and Victorian nicks.

Not a headword by itself; superseded by 'estar cañón'. Retained inadvertently.