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.
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1940s — 119 terms
Showing top 119 by views40
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cap
1940tiktok
🔊bussin
1940tiktok
🔊no cap
1940tiktok
🔊bet
1940tiktok
🔊frfr
1940texting
🔊servo
1940🔊
finna
1940tiktok
🔊taking the piss
1948🔊
PLAN
1949bluesky
🔊burn coal
1946🔊
Edgar
1946bluesky
🔊Californication
1947bluesky
🔊derv
1948🔊
4F
1940🔊
K-12
1948🔊
abdabs
1946🔊
gaslight
1944bluesky
🔊jaygee
1940🔊
girlie
1940bluesky
🔊A-bomb
1945🔊
light bill
1940🔊
Unicef
1946bluesky
🔊A-Day
1947bluesky
🔊bruce
1946bluesky
🔊Harlem sunset
1940🔊
axe
1940🔊
chops
1940bluesky
🔊de Havilland Law
1943🔊
radar
1940bluesky
🔊ornery
1947🔊
rating
1947bluesky
🔊bob-a-job
1949🔊
troppo
1940bluesky
🔊sprog
1940🔊
twitterpated
1942🔊
groovy
1940bluesky
🔊ofay
1948🔊
A&E
1948🔊
Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells
1944🔊
Fauci ouchie
1940🔊
action stations
1940🔊
jet fuel
1944bluesky
🔊Winnipeg couch
1945🔊
shufti
1940🔊
brainstorm
1945bluesky
🔊impeachment
1945bluesky
🔊A-II
1940🔊
Dumbo ear
1941🔊
honky
1946bluesky
🔊pisscutter
1940🔊
Nikon choir
1946🔊
wiener
1948bluesky
🔊Herkimer Jerkimer
1940🔊
party political broadcast
1947bluesky
🔊Hills Hoist
1945🔊
nit nurse
1942🔊
quadrillion
1948🔊
fortune cookie
1942🔊
knockers
1940bluesky
🔊reindeer games
1949🔊
ronson
1940bluesky
🔊candy striper
1944🔊
googolplex
1940🔊
catbird seat
1942🔊
baka bomb
1944🔊
quinella
1942🔊
cock up
1948🔊
Tiranga
1947🔊
Big Bang
1949bluesky
🔊hot rod
1945bluesky
🔊brupper
1949🔊
oater
1945🔊
grok
1949bluesky
🔊Mr Plod
1949🔊
laundromat
1940bluesky
🔊Fibber McGee's closet
1940🔊
baby boomer
1946bluesky
🔊P60
1944🔊
green card
1946bluesky
🔊bhapa
1947🔊
pac-a-mac
1949🔊
90-day wonder
1942🔊
pruno
1940🔊
deuce coupe
1940🔊
Fuzzy Wuzzy Angel
1942🔊
boondocker
1944🔊
comely maidens
1943🔊
Bambi lover
1942🔊
brownie point
1944🔊
ten pound tourist
1946🔊
fucking A
1947bluesky
🔊millennial
1947youtube
🔊Janet and John
1949🔊
cowabunga
1940bluesky
🔊Dunkirk spirit
1940🔊
11-plus examination
1944🔊
like turkeys voting for Christmas
1944🔊
cop out
1942bluesky
🔊boofhead
1940🔊
Smokey Bear
1944🔊
Gossage
1940🔊
crapola
1940🔊
Duckburg
1944🔊
lilo
1940bluesky
🔊asswipe
1947bluesky
🔊needways
1947🔊
ten pound pom
1946🔊
closet case
1946🔊
copperfasten
1948🔊
diaper wrap
1949🔊
know shit from Shinola
1940🔊
tailor
1942bluesky
🔊hold the ring
1942🔊
country ham
1944🔊
cybernat
1942🔊
pushbike
1940🔊
Tricolour
1947🔊
real gone
1940🔊
VP Day
1945🔊
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.