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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Kid-built bicycle dressed to mimic a scraper car — spokes woven with candy-coloured duct tape, foil and cardboard until the wheels look like rims. Born in East Oakland in the mid-2000s and turned into a whole movement (and viral video) by the Trunk Boiz.

A big-body Buick, Olds or Caprice from the 80s/90s — candy paint, oversized rims, sometimes a 'scraper' name because the wheels scrape the wells. The hyphy scene's car of choice; the thing you actually ghost-ride.

To get into a physical fight. 'Trying to scrap' means ready to throw hands.

To eat heartily. Extension of 'scran' (food) into a verb across the North.

Food in general, or a meal you're about to eat. Heard all over the UK, especially the North and Scotland.

The gold-embroidered oak-leaf decoration on the visors of senior officers' caps.

The flat-out, drop-everything launch of fighters to meet an unidentified or hostile aircraft. Klaxon goes, pilots sprint to the jets, wheels up in minutes. Born in the Battle of Britain when RAF Fighter Command needed Spitfires and Hurricanes airborne before the Luftwaffe arrived overhead. Still the term NATO air forces use today for quick-reaction alert launches.

A scratch or scrape, especially on the skin. South Wales staple — what the cat gives you, what a bramble does to your arm, what you come home with after a tumble.

A hearty stew of meat, potatoes and onions; the dish gives Liverpudlians and their dialect the name 'Scouse'.

The scotch bonnet chilli, the fiery pepper central to Jamaican cooking.

Legs. Cockney rhyming slang — scotch eggs rhymes with legs. Often shortened to 'scotches', as in 'get your scotches moving'. Pub-snack to body-part by way of the East End.

A particularly brutal crash where the rider flips forward over the bars and lands on their face and chest while their legs and the bike whip up behind, arching like a scorpion's tail. It is one of the more feared slams.

The running tally of enemies your set has killed, shot, stabbed or otherwise put down. Brought up in bars to claim dominance — 'check the scoreboard' is the drill version of 'check the rings'.

To successfully attack an opp — usually a stabbing, sometimes a shooting — and rack up the 'point' for your side. The football metaphor is deliberate and chilling: opps are tallied like goals, and drill diss tracks brag about the scoreboard.

The uncontrolled growth of a project's requirements after it has begun.

What is and isn't included in a piece of work; also used as a verb meaning to define that.

Drinks, almost always pints. You don't go for 'a few drinks' in Manchester, you go for 'a few scoops'. Implies it's beer, implies it's more than two.

scoop-and-score

A defensive play in which a player picks up a fumble off the ground and runs it back for a touchdown.

A prehospital approach of loading a critically injured patient and racing to hospital rather than treating extensively at the scene.

Short for 'scoop stretcher'. Two metal or plastic halves that clip apart, slide under the patient from either side, and lock back together — letting you lift someone off the floor with minimal movement. Used for suspected spinal injuries, hip fractures, and anyone you don't want to log-roll. Lighter and quicker than a long board.

Playful term for one of the numerous meals a bodybuilder eats throughout the day to fuel growth.

A way of saying nobody knows what's going on.

A clue. Cockney rhyming slang ('Scooby Doo' = clue) that got adopted wholesale by Scotland and is now far more associated with Glasgow than London. Almost exclusively used in the negative — you don't 'have a scooby', you 'havnae got a scooby'.

A person from Wisconsin, or an adjective for something characteristically Wisconsin. Formed from the middle letters of the state's name.