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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Shorthand for Wall Street as a hive mind — every bank, broker-dealer, analyst and trader rolled into one entity that has opinions, expectations and grudges. "The Street" beats earnings, hates a guidance cut, and never forgives a CFO who lies on a call.

Locals' shorthand for Sault Ste. Marie, the Lake Superior shipping town at the top of Michigan's eastern Upper Peninsula. 'Sault' is pronounced 'Soo' — the spelling never caught on in speech. Same nickname applies to its bigger Ontario twin across the locks.

The Security/Special Housing Unit where inmates are held in prolonged isolation. Often pronounced 'the shoe.'

The Major Leagues; the highest level of professional baseball, above which there is nothing.

the shade of it all

The verbal equivalent of clutching your pearls while loving every second. You drop it when shade is flying and the drama is delicious — half scandalised, half living for it. Latrice Royale gave it the iconic delivery: fan out, eyes wide, drawing the word out to 'the shaaaade of it all.' It's commentary from the sidelines, not the shade itself — you're reacting to the carnage, not throwing it.

The unit housing inmates sentenced to death.

The defining move of LA's jerkin' era — basically a running-man flipped in reverse, knees flicking out as you bounce backwards. If you came up in SoCal between 2008 and 2011, you learned this in someone's driveway.

The northwest corner of Indiana near Chicago, home to steel mills and a Chicago-influenced accent.

The art of the insult, ballroom style. To read someone is to expose their flaws cleverly and surgically — wit over volume, precision over rage. Dorian Corey called it 'the real art form of insult' in Paris Is Burning. Done between friends it's sport; done in a battle it's a weapon.

Members of the public, customers or the general crowd; 'punters out in full force' means a big turnout.

The satisfying post-set swelling of a worked muscle as blood floods the tissue, a hallmark sensation of resistance training.

The Prudential Tower — Back Bay's 52-storey insurance-company skyscraper and the second-tallest building in Boston. By extension the whole Prudential Center complex underneath it (mall, food court, the Eataly, the skywalk). No Bostonian says 'Prudential Tower' out loud; it's the Pru.

NYC Housing Authority apartment complexes; large-scale subsidized housing, a recurring reference point in New York culture and rap.

the printer goes brrr

A satirical phrase depicting the Federal Reserve endlessly printing money to inflate asset prices, invoked to explain why 'stonks only go up' regardless of fundamentals.

the porch light's on but nobody's home

Describes someone who seems normal outwardly but is not too sharp.

Locals' shorthand for the Massachusetts Turnpike, the east-west toll spine that runs from Logan all the way to the New York border. Nobody says 'I-90' or 'the Mass Pike' — it's just the Pike. The road you sit on for two hours in summer beach traffic and pay a small fortune in EZ-Pass tolls.

the people mover

Detroit's automated elevated light-rail loop circling downtown.

The counter between kitchen and dining room where plates land, get wiped, garnished and inspected before a runner walks them out. It's the chokepoint of service — every ticket comes through here. The chef or expo lives at the pass during a rush and basically conducts the whole orchestra from it.

The rectangular painted area under the basket extending to the free-throw line, also called the key or lane.

An off-licence or liquor shop. Black Country and Brummie usage, dating from when pubs had a separate hatch or door selling booze for takeaway — the 'outdoor' as opposed to the indoor bar. The name stuck even when the hatches didn't.

The vast, arid, sparsely populated interior of the continent.

Ocean Beach, a laid-back beach neighborhood in San Diego.

What you call O'Block when you don't need to spell it out — the Parkway Gardens block tied to Lil Durk and King Von. Used in lyrics and conversation where everyone already knows what 'the O' means.

The Vulnerable Prisoner (VP) wing, where at-risk inmates such as sex offenders and informers are housed. 'Going on the numbers' means transferring there.