80's and 90's slang

[plum]

I don't know about y'all, but I LOVE slang. I like making it up, adapting it, finding slang from other countries and using it... all of that. I also am a big fan of resurrecting old slang and making it new again.

So, what are the 80s and 90s slang that you guys remember? And let's define each word so everyone can get it.

Salty- I think this was a local one to me, but if something was lame, stupid, rediculous, or clumsy, we called it "salty" and would even pair it with an action of brushing "salt" off of our shoulders. It went so far as some kids bringing salt shakers to school and tossing salt while saying it.

Rad- "cool" "neat" "awesome"

Dude- still alive and kicking, this one. I think we all know what this means, but it's basically "cool guy" but is now applicable for women as well. The Nickelodian tv show "Hey Dude" was a hit way back when.

Woah!- Was it coined by the television character Joey on "Blossom" or by Keanu Reeves in any of his acting roles? This is up for debate. Must be said slowly and slurred back in the throat. Ugly vowel sounds unite!

Gnarly- "cool" "crazy" "amazing". The stereotype word for surfers in California.

Duh- sarcastic term for when someone means: "no kidding" "that's obvious" "of course!". Variants could be "no duh!" "nuh doy!" "like, duh"

Hunk- handsome male. "Hunka hunka burnin love!"

 

[Linnis]

Haha! I used Duh a lot in Junior High, so much so my Dad used to say Dur to tease me.

Cool could be a number of things but mostly that it was popular, good, rad etc

Bad that meant good

Biter It's what my older brother used instead of terms like "Copy cat" etc

I can't think of any more right now.

 

[sallystrothers]

"the bomb" -- meant friggin awesome

 

[plum]

don't forget the whole phrase: "the bomb phat diggity"!

OK I thought I made up dur all on my own. maybe in my circle at least. Haha, oh well!

Like- this replacement for "uh" and "uhm" came out of that valley girl stereotype that was popularized back in the day

 

[MacKennon]

Cool Beans

 

[D'Ann]

Remember the Chicago Bears football player shuffles...lol slang? "Word" meant cool and fine.

 

[Blank123]

The only one that comes to mind right now is 'phat'.

I remember one time my mom and I were in the car listening to the radio and the song, 'hey, Leonardo' came on and it got to the line where he says this girl he likes is phat like Cindy Crawford and my mom turned to me looking confused and asked me "Did he just say she was fat?" I just laughed

 

[Sketcher]

mondo - big, or big-time. I've got a friend who uses this every day and proudly wears a jean jacket. If there was an 80's party he could just go as himself.

 

[Oblivious]

Off the top of my head...

Cool
Awesome
Rad or radical
"Like"
Bogus

 

[Zoomer]

When the movie Clueless became popular the girls started using 'Whatever' and 'As if'.

Sike/psyche when you try to fool someone, that was popular when I was in middle school.

 

[remy]

gnarly + awesome.... gnawsome!!!

.
.
.
no?

 

[Eyes2wardsHeaven]

Chill + relax = Chillax

and NOT

 

[Apollonian]

"booyah" - exclamation indicating sudden overwhelming success at something or sudden pleasant shock over something inherently awesome

The following are more millenial slang terms, but hey...
"Google" v. trans. - to initiate a search on www.google.com in attemps to find a particular answer. Often used in the imperative: "If you don't know who the 42nd president of the United States is...google it."

"w00t" - This is a popular term for those of us who have grown up with cyberspace. It generally means the acquisition of success in some fashion, e.g. the acquisition of treasure in an online game or suddenly finding a dime on the ground.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W00t

"l33t sp3k" - The popular cyberspace morphological code used to approximate words in a most prodigiously geekish way. T3h p0pul4r cyb3rsp4c3 m0rph0l0g1c4l c0d3 us3d t0 4ppr0x1m4t3 w0rds 1n a m0st pr0d1910usly 933k1sh w4y! w00t i 3m t3h h4x0r! (not really)

 

[plum]

"take a chill pill!"

 

[horuhe00]

Shwing! - guy exclamation upon seeing a hot babe

 

[haya]

wicked
"This is wicked good cake, Mom."
"I saw a wicked good movie last night."
"You've gotta try this, it's wicked cool."
Or simply -- "Wicked."
Is this just a new england-ism?

 

[Ginsu]

I called someone a Nardolf, or however you spell it, yesterday. It's was uhh... interesting!

 

[BOJAX]

wicked
"This is wicked good cake, Mom."
"I saw a wicked good movie last night."
"You've gotta try this, it's wicked cool."
Or simply -- "Wicked."
Is this just a new england-ism?

you're talking to someone who was ADDICTED to this word all throughout middle school.

Another one I remember is 'burn!'


there were other local street slang words we used too like...

'custy' a 'custy' is a cheapskate
'seen!' an exclamation that something is good
'star' something you'd call you friend or something like that
'teef' a theif or to steal something

there were countless others

 

[Cordy]

Oh dear… after reading all your slangs, I think I am still living in the 90s. Ah!

How about the real old stuff – throughout the 20th C?
Like:

Square – extremely straight laced
Sharp – very cool
Neat – ibid.
The bees knees – the be all end all
The Cat’s Meow – ibid.
Drugstore cowboys – aka mall rats today
Supermergentroid – if you don’t know this one, you missed one of the best thing about the 90s – Swing Kids. Rent it today!

 

[BOJAX]

Gear and fab!, that's where it's at and that's a natural fact!
This thread is a real live wire man! it's groovy! it's hip!
I'd love to stay and gab with you all

but I gotta split

see you 8-balls later!