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

Your neighbourhood — your patch, your area, where you and your guys hold it down. Sits next to 'endz' and 'manor' in the UK lexicon.

More generally, copying any idea or move and claiming it as original.

bite the bullet

To accept and endure a difficult or painful situation because it's unavoidable.

A term of incarceration; someone 'doing a bit' is serving time. Often implies a relatively short sentence.

An idealised, delicately handsome and frequently androgynous male character, a staple of shoujo and boys' love works.

An attractively drawn, pretty young female character. The term also names a whole genre of games ('bishoujo games') built around such characters.

An idealised, delicately handsome young male character — slender, refined and often androgynous. A staple of shoujo and Boys' Love works.

Slang for money, in the food-metaphor family.

Abbreviation for the biceps, the front muscles of the upper arm.

An advertisement, such as a subway or billboard display, that fans pool money to place in public spaces for an idol's birthday. A visible show of fan devotion.

Temper, anger or hackles; 'to get one's birse up' is to become angry.

Cleaning oneself at the cell sink with limited water when showers are unavailable during lockdown.

An in-cab radar detector that alerts the driver to police radar/laser. Standard kit in older trucker rigs — illegal in commercial vehicles in the US since 1994, but still seen.

Cockney rhyming slang for time, particularly time served in prison; almost always shortened to 'bird'.

A colonel (O-6), whose rank insignia is an eagle, distinguishing them from a lieutenant colonel who wears an oak leaf.

A police helicopter — usually heard on the radio ('the bird's up') or muttered when you can hear rotors over your neighbourhood at 2am.

Spoken shorthand for a basis point. Saying 'fifty bips' is faster than 'fifty basis points' and sounds less try-hard than 'fifty bee-pees'. Pure desk slang — you'll hear it on rates, credit and FX floors, never in a press release.

Stands for "believe it or not," used to introduce a surprising or hard-to-believe statement.

Glasses. Spectacles. The thing on your face that lets you read the menu. Strong in Liverpool and across northern England, but understood anywhere in the UK. Usually said with a fond piss-take.

An improvised syringe assembled from a pen, needle, and other parts to inject drugs.

A pre-briefed fuel level at which an aircraft must break off and head home to land with a safe reserve.

A brevity code for the pre-briefed minimum fuel state at which an aircraft must break off and head for recovery to land with adequate reserves.

A small crash or bump, especially between cars.

To watch a large number of episodes — or a whole series — back to back in a short span, a common way fans consume anime on streaming platforms.