Slang Dictionary — Modern Slang, Decoded

A laboratory test measuring red cells, white cells, hemoglobin, and platelets, used to screen for infection, anemia, and bleeding.

Stands for "can't be arsed" (British) or "can't be bothered," expressing unwillingness to do something. Mildly crude in the "arsed" form.

Fan shorthand for a group's comeback, used constantly in social-media posts and countdowns.

Louisiana word for a mongrel dog — your classic mixed-breed yard pup of no particular pedigree. Almost always said warmly, like 'good ol' cayoodle'. The root is imitative: an older verb 'kyoodle' meaning to yap or bark, which the OED traces to the noise itself. Big in NOLA and across south Louisiana; rarely heard outside the state.

A hearty winter soup or stew made with lamb or beef, leeks, potatoes, swede and carrots. The word is also used loosely to mean a mess or muddle. Now in the Oxford English Dictionary.

An eye-dialect spelling of 'coffee' capturing the tensed New York vowel; emblematic of the NYC accent.

Used in gaming when an enemy catches you unaware.

Being unable to paddle out past the breaking surf, so that waves break on top of you and push you toward shore.

Being exposed doing something with clear evidence, like a screenshot or video, leaving no room to deny it.

Frames emotions as something that happens to you, almost accidentally.

Welsh for 'close the door' (cau = close/shut, drws = door). The phrase every Welsh kid hears a thousand times growing up, usually shouted from the kitchen when someone's let the heat out. Pronounced roughly 'kye droos.'

In vogue, the catwalk is the exaggerated feminine walk — one of the five elements of Vogue Femme. The legs cross over each other, the hips thrust hard side to side, and the hands get thrown forward in opposition to the legs, so the whole body works in counter-rhythm. It's the runway model strut pushed to its theatrical extreme: every step a statement. Don't confuse it with the everyday 'catwalk' meaning a fashion runway — in ballroom it's a specific technical move.

In an older sense, a fearsome imaginary beast used to frighten, alongside its adjectival "askew" meaning.

Describes something not properly aligned—tilted, off-kilter, or in disarray. Also spelled catawampus.

Positioned or set at a diagonal, especially across an intersection. "Cattycorner" is the more Southern-flavored variant.

By extension, any overcrowded vehicle or transport.

To tumble or send someone sprawling with limbs splayed like a cat. Also katspraddle.

Anyone connected to or fluent in the hip subculture.

A brief stretch of incarceration, seen as easy to sleep through.

Marks community sync when everyone's enjoying the same audio moment.

A large Southern biscuit shaped by hand rather than cut, said to be about the size of a cat's head.

A popular kemonomimi type: a human-looking girl with feline ears, tail and sometimes mannerisms, often saying 'nya'.

Catfishing is creating a false persona, often with stolen photos and invented details, to lure someone into an online relationship under false pretenses.

In sport, most associated with the ice-hockey tradition where fans hurl a catfish onto the ice, echoing the Detroit Red Wings' octopus custom.