Slang time machine
Every English slang term has a moment it first showed up in print or on someone's lips. We've tagged 4,786 terms with a first attested decade — from 18th-century thieves’ cant through to 2020s internet vocabulary. Pick a decade below.
370048004900123950391000410503110011150412008125011290361300101350337140015145074150051520315302154031155061560215701158031590391600816105162021630216404716504166031670316801169010817007171041720817306174053175011176010177012178020179079180018181024182044183035184023518503818602918705518805918902871900631910781920911930119194029219501331960136197020019803201990279200061220104882020
1500s — 74 terms
Showing top 74 by views00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
Jacob
1500bluesky
🔊Jane
1500bluesky
🔊Jeremiah
1500bluesky
🔊hank
1500bluesky
🔊Trinity
1500bluesky
🔊Jasper
1500bluesky
🔊Brittany
1500bluesky
🔊runt
1500bluesky
🔊Administrator
1500bluesky
🔊caker
1500🔊
maggot
1500bluesky
🔊Animal
1500🔊
vex
1500🔊
pet
1500🔊
illy
1500🔊
balling
1500bluesky
🔊shalk
1500🔊
bounce
1500bluesky
🔊flannel
1500bluesky
🔊adopt
1500bluesky
🔊Lane
1500bluesky
🔊roadman
1500🔊
acceptance
1500bluesky
🔊casket
1500bluesky
🔊kernel
1500bluesky
🔊anglo
1500bluesky
🔊arsy versy
1500🔊
common good
1500bluesky
🔊gambol
1500🔊
Johnny
1500bluesky
🔊rainbow
1500twitter
🔊be with
1500bluesky
🔊ABCs
1500bluesky
🔊dusty
1500bluesky
🔊accumulation
1500bluesky
🔊parole
1500bluesky
🔊nowt
1500bluesky
🔊bogle
1500🔊
abb
1500🔊
Aaron's rod
1500🔊
packet
1500bluesky
🔊accommodation
1500bluesky
🔊abridgment
1500texting
🔊agent
1500bluesky
🔊Rock
1500youtube
🔊adult
1500🔊
academy
1500bluesky
🔊absentee
1500bluesky
🔊admittance
1500🔊
admission
1500bluesky
🔊adiate
1500🔊
nugget
1500bluesky
🔊upcast
1500🔊
neuk
1500🔊
shriek
1500bluesky
🔊nutcracker
1500🔊
aks
1500🔊
accession
1500bluesky
🔊pisspot
1500🔊
Castle
1500bluesky
🔊chargeant
1500🔊
advocation
1500🔊
poxy
1500🔊
do for
1500🔊
admire
1500bluesky
🔊area
1500bluesky
🔊camp-ball
1500🔊
rookery
1500🔊
janitor
1500bluesky
🔊pish
1500bluesky
🔊harmonic
1500bluesky
🔊nosebleed
1500bluesky
🔊ablutions
1500🔊
umbethink
1500🔊
More on how slang travels through time
The lifecycle of a slang word
Mint, scale, ironize, retire — how every viral term moves through the same five stages.
Where slang is born now
The platforms and subcultures that mint vocabulary in 2026 — and why TikTok shifted everything.
AAVE and internet slang
The single biggest source of new mainstream English vocabulary, and why most of the words you used today started here.
Attestation dates come from etymologies originally sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0) and editorial expansion authored on Slangora. They reflect the earliest documented use we found for each term, not necessarily the moment it was coined.