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

Someone who parks in one position — a corner, a window, behind a door — and waits for kills instead of moving. Effective, infuriating, and a classic source of lobby rage.

As a noun, 'camper,' a player known for this passive, ambush-heavy style.

The camouflage utility uniform worn by Navy and Marine personnel — the counterpart of the Army/Air Force field uniform.

In Mexican usage, the everyday word for a city or intercity bus (elsewhere it means truck).

Slang for a patient who dramatises illness or impending death, named after the tuberculosis-stricken heroine of the play/film 'Camille.'

The huge, humped truck-buses once used for mass transit in Havana; named for their camel-like shape.

A New Orleans shotgun house with a hump on the back — one story up front, two stories at the rear. Built that way in the late 1800s because property taxes were assessed on the number of front-facing stories, so locals stacked the extra room out of sight. Tax dodge as architecture.

Genericized brand name (Cambro Manufacturing) for the heavy translucent plastic storage containers every restaurant uses for stock, brine, prep, and dry goods. Stackable, label-friendly, and indestructible. Comes in 2qt up to 22qt.

Used to agree or confirm, like 'okay', 'cool', or 'sounds good'.

'Cally' is cannabis, originally hinting at California-grown imports but in London it covers any decent bag of green. Heard on every other drill track — 'pack of cally,' 'zoot of cally.'

Call options: contracts giving the right to buy a stock at a set price, profitable when the underlying rises. The go-to bullish weapon for WSB gamblers.

A sober-adjacent lifestyle in which a person avoids alcohol but continues to consume cannabis.

A dark leafy green (amaranth) and the popular dish made from it, often steamed with saltfish. Also spelled callalou.

California in Caló — the Chicano street Spanish of the Southwest. Used across Chicano rap, lowrider culture and SoCal Latino slang for decades; you'll see it tattooed in Old English across plenty of backs.

A traditional New Year's Day gift, or the custom of children going door to door singing to collect coins for good luck. Now in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Shoes — specifically the sharp dress shoes that finished off a zoot suit. By extension, any pair of shoes in old-school Chicano talk.

Reddit's birthday party for your account. Every year on the date you signed up, a tiny cake slice appears beside your username for 24 hours. Tradition says other Redditors throw you free upvotes as a 'happy cakeday' tribute — though hivemind being hivemind, you'll also get the occasional contrarian downvote just for existing.

The mouth. 99% of the time it appears in the phrase "shut your cake-hole" — a Brummie/British classic for telling someone to be quiet. Older than your nan and going nowhere.

A foppish young man who frequents tea dances and parties, more interested in flirting than working; a lady-killer.

A dialectal pronunciation and spelling of "can't."

Someone who 'falls in' uninvited or shamelessly seizes freebies/attention.

A big returnable bottle of beer, named after the sea turtle for its size.

Left-handed. One of those regional words for a southpaw — every part of the UK has its own (cack-handed, corrie-fisted, kerry-handed) and 'caggy' is the Midlands flavour. Usually neutral, occasionally teasing, especially in school playgrounds.

An inmate's cell, emphasizing its confining, barred nature.