# Are You Confused By Slang?



## Ina (Aug 5, 2014)

I love the way language is put together, but sometimes slang just confuses me. What slang gets to you? Here are just a few of mine. I always wonder how they came about.

1. *Souped* -  as in he souped up his truck.
2. *C**opped* -  He copped an attitude.
3. *Ditched* - He ditched me!
4. *Flacky*   - She is too flacky. 
5. *Gig*        - I have a gig tonight. 
6. *Bananas* - They went bananas. 
7. *Hang Loose* - Just hang loose for awhile.


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## RadishRose (Aug 7, 2014)

'sup- as in what's up
 I prefer- whazzup


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## CPA-Kim (Aug 7, 2014)

I guess being a college teacher exposes me to language/slang from all age groups.  I've discovered a trend and that is many people of all ages do not know how to properly compose written communication.  I think texting with abbreviations might be one of the reasons.


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## oldman (Aug 7, 2014)

Dime----Money----My Grandchildren went to the movies on my dime.
Narc----Someone who works for the DEA---The guy that busted my friend for drugs was a Narc.
Tapped Out----No money----I would like to buy you a beer, but I am tapped out.
Screwed----Getting a raw deal----My plumber roayally screwed me for fixing my toilet.
Heat----Police----The heat showed up and busted my friend at the party.
Fuzz----Police----The Fuzz gave me a ticket for speeding.
Bitchin'----Cool----Man, his '50 Merc is bitchin'. 
Dog----Friend----Hey Dog, whazzup? (Ghetto slang)
Yo----Hello----Yo, Bill.
Tree Hugger----Someone who enjoys being in the woods----On weekends, the tree huggers from New York City come to PA to visit the state parks.
Ball Buster----Pretty girl that teases the guys----She's a real ball buster, that's for sure. (I hope no ladies here are offended. If so, I apologize.)
Dude----Guy----Hey Dude, whazzup?
Dang----Damn----The dang rope keeps coming untied.
Friggin'----we all know what that means----Man' it's really friggin' cold out!
Red A$$----Someone with a temper----My boss is a real red a$$ when it comes to people missing work. 

I have a zillion more, but I hafta' go whiz. Check me out later.


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## Falcon (Aug 7, 2014)

Wash your hands when you come back,  Oldman.  :eeew:


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## SeaBreeze (Aug 7, 2014)

I'm not too confused by slang, but don't use it myself very often.

Phat - cool, attractive, hot

Homey - friend, buddy

Diss - show disrespect

Peeps - friends, people

Sweet - cool

Fly - cool

Bad - good


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## SifuPhil (Aug 7, 2014)

Since I earn my living with words I guess I'm at least moderately tuned-in on the slang front. The problem is, slang is an ever-evolving thing - as soon as I get a handle on one set of words an entirely new set comes out.

Special interest groups always have their own slang as well, and keeping up with them is a full-time job.

My favorite slang is actually a language called nadsat, created for the movie _A Clockwork Orange_ and is a mixture of old Cockney rhyming slang, Russian words and re-purposed English (British variety).


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## romfty (Aug 8, 2014)

Nadsat...............now you're talking.


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## ClassicRockr (Aug 8, 2014)

When I call my BIL up, the first thing I say is "hey, dude!". My wife get a kick out of it when I say......"Party Time". We will go to a local Entertainment Center (has bowling, Comedy Club, restaurant, video game area, sports bar and small nightclub w/band stage and dance floor) and as we pass the restaurant "greeters", I will look at them and say "the Senior's are here and ready to party!". They will smile, but also look a little shocked that an old person ("old" to them at their age) would say that.


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## JaniceM (Jun 9, 2017)

ClassicRockr said:


> When I call my BIL up, the first thing I say is "hey, dude!". My wife get a kick out of it when I say......"Party Time". We will go to a local Entertainment Center (has bowling, Comedy Club, restaurant, video game area, sports bar and small nightclub w/band stage and dance floor) and as we pass the restaurant "greeters", I will look at them and say "the Senior's are here and ready to party!". They will smile, but also look a little shocked that an old person ("old" to them at their age) would say that.



Very few kids in my high schools used that term.  I was kinda surprised when I read a very old book awhile back, and learned 'party' (as a verb, to mean 'drink, drug, & get stupid') was actually in use in inner-city slums long before I was even born.


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## JaniceM (Jun 9, 2017)

Ina said:


> I love the way language is put together, but sometimes slang just confuses me. What slang gets to you? Here are just a few of mine. I always wonder how they came about.
> 
> 1. *Souped* -  as in he souped up his truck.
> 2. *C**opped* -  He copped an attitude.
> ...



Sometimes it confuses me, but more often than not it's just irritating-  I hate what's become of the English language.  Maybe because when I was a kid, not many people (kids or others) used slang.  These days it's all over the place, and not limited to specific age groups:  "Are you taking a vacay or a staycay?"  "Game-changer!"  "Moving forward" (or "moving ahead")  "Going in"  etc.  One that got me awhile back:  one person asked another:  "Are you guys going out, or are you dating?"  Curious, I looked around the web, and found many people arguing on what the terms meant, if they meant the same thing or not, etc.  GAHHHH!!!


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## Ruth n Jersey (Jun 9, 2017)

I can figure out most of the slang I hear on a daily basis but the texting abbreviations I don't understand. My daughter uses them all the time and I have looked up the meanings on the internet and have some written down. I can't even seem to remember them.


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## JaniceM (Jun 9, 2017)

Ruth n Jersey said:


> I can figure out most of the slang I hear on a daily basis but the texting abbreviations I don't understand. My daughter uses them all the time and I have looked up the meanings on the internet and have some written down. I can't even seem to remember them.



Orly?  layful:


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## HiDesertHal (Jun 11, 2017)

When I attended California high school in the early '50's, the preferred word for something really nice was "bitchin".  (Later called "groovy","boss", or "cool")

An ugly girl was called a "skag". 

A homosexual was called a "queer".

HDH


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## Camper6 (Jun 11, 2017)

Now it's awesome.

One of my tenants working on his truck in the hot sun.

I asked him if he would like a beer.

'That would be awesome".


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## HazyDavey (Jun 11, 2017)

"Rock and Roll".. is originally an old slang term for making love.


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## Ruthanne (Aug 20, 2017)

When something is really good it is "dope".


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## JaniceM (Aug 30, 2017)

I might have mentioned this before, but it seems slang is replacing the English language.  I was under the impression slang was a generational thing-  kids come up with words/terms/expressions to set their generation apart from the older generations, but these days it's everywhere.  

One example that really irritates me:  referring to virtually everything, regardless of how it's meant, as 'shaming.'  Yesterday I was reading a news article-  a school principal who told girls to not wear leggings if they weren't skinny-  and on the side of the article there were headlines for three more articles on three different subjects, all with this same theme.  One was about a teacher who sent a note home to a parent, telling the mother to stop sending chocolate cake in with the child's lunch.  

It seems to be overtaking another that irritates me- 'judging.'    

Why can't people say 'criticize,' or some other appropriate term?


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## hollydolly (Aug 30, 2017)

there's lots of slang words that irritate me...but one that's used a lot in the media to describe what a celebrity is wearing is to use the word 'rocking''.... Khloe Kardashian rocked a pair of levi's... Sharon Osborne 'rocked' an ankle length coat..etc...


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## jujube (Aug 30, 2017)

Back in my day "hooking up" meant meeting up somewhere...."Let's take two cars and hook up at the park."

Now, I guess, "hooking up" involves ****** relations......as in "I wanted a long-term relationship, but he just wanted to hook up."

I have to be very careful using that term now to anyone under 60.  Or, maybe not.....doesn't seem to be that big of a problem any more....sigh.


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## Don M. (Aug 30, 2017)

There is an entire web site devoted to trying to keep up with the current use/misuse of the English language....

http://www.urbandictionary.com/


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## JaniceM (Aug 30, 2017)

Don M. said:


> There is an entire web site devoted to trying to keep up with the current use/misuse of the English language....
> 
> http://www.urbandictionary.com/



Oh, I'm familiar with that site...  seems any time I need to look up the 'modern' usage of a word, that's the site that comes up.  
I'd happily do without it.

But sometimes even Googling doesn't bring up an answer-  instead, bunches of people arguing.  One that I saw a lot of disagreements on awhile back-  what's the difference between 'dating' and 'going out'-  and even younger people who created these dopey terms couldn't even agree on what they meant!


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## Aunt Bea (Aug 30, 2017)

I understand most of it, I still have to google a new term every now and then.

Slang does not bother me when people are in an informal setting.

It does annoy me when I hear old folks, like me, using modern slang when talking to young folks or when it creeps into newspaper articles or television news broadcasts.


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## Butterfly (Sep 1, 2017)

JaniceM said:


> Oh, I'm familiar with that site...  seems any time I need to look up the 'modern' usage of a word, that's the site that comes up.
> I'd happily do without it.
> 
> But sometimes even Googling doesn't bring up an answer-  instead, bunches of people arguing.  One that I saw a lot of disagreements on awhile back-  what's the difference between 'dating' and 'going out'-  and even younger people who created these dopey terms couldn't even agree on what they meant!



So IS there any difference between dating and going out?  I don't think there was any back in the day when I was doing it.


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## Kadee (Sep 1, 2017)

Here is a bit of Aussie slang for you 

Ive found some words mean different things to people who don't live in Australia ..no offence intended 
its common to hear a man refer to a lady as a Sheila ...but it's also a females name 


*Barbie : barbecue (noun) 
Barrack : to cheer on (football team etc.) 
Bathers : swimming costume
Battler : someone working hard and only just making a living 
Beaut, beauty : great, fantastic 
Big Smoke : a big city, especially Sydney or Melbourne
Big-note oneself : brag, boast 
Bikkie : biscuit (also "it cost big bikkies" - it was expensive)
Billabong : an oxbow lake cut off by a change in the watercourse. Billabongs are usually formed when the course of a creek or river changes, leaving the former branch with a dead end. 
Billy : teapot. Container for boiling water.
Bingle : motor vehicle accident
Bities : biting insects 
Bitzer : mongrel dog (bits of this and bits of that) 
Bizzo : business ("mind your own bizzo") 
Black Stump, beyond the : a long way away, the back of nowhere 
Bloke : man, guy 
Bloody : very (bloody hard yakka) 
Bloody oath! : that's certainly true 
Blow in the bag : have a breathalyser test 
Blowie : blow fly 
Bludger : lazy person, layabout, somebody who always relies on other people to do things or lend him things
Blue : fight ("he was having a blue with his wife") 
Blue, make a : make a mistake 
Bluey : pack, equipment, traffic ticket, redhead 
Bluey : blue cattle dog (named after its subtle markings) which is an excellent working dog. Everyone's favourite all-Aussie dog. 
Bluey : heavy wool or felt jacket worn by mining and construction workers.
Bluey : bluebottle jellyfish
Bodgy : of inferior quality 
Bog in : commence eating, to attack food with enthusiasm*


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## Warrigal (Sep 1, 2017)

JaniceM said:


> Very few kids in my high schools used that term.  I was kinda surprised when I read a very old book awhile back, and learned 'party' (as a verb, to mean 'drink, drug, & get stupid') was actually in use in inner-city slums long before I was even born.



:lol: the term 'kids' meaning children was considered slang when I was a teen and for some time after that.


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## JaniceM (Sep 1, 2017)

Warrigal said:


> :lol: the term 'kids' meaning children was considered slang when I was a teen and for some time after that.



I didn't know that!!  
I use the word to cover everybody who's not yet legal age, and those who are legal age I call young adults.


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## JaniceM (Sep 1, 2017)

Butterfly said:


> So IS there any difference between dating and going out?  I don't think there was any back in the day when I was doing it.



I was never able to find an answer to that.  
So if young people who came up with the ideas can't agree, I guess we older folks shouldn't be too concerned.


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## HiDesertHal (Sep 1, 2017)

Another "Tree Hugger" is an Environmentalist, looked upon with scorn by some Conservatives.

Hal


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## JaniceM (Sep 1, 2017)

HiDesertHal said:


> Another "Tree Hugger" is an Environmentalist, looked upon with scorn by some Conservatives.
> 
> Hal



and "tree killers"-  those of us who read books instead of using those electronic doodads.


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## HiDesertHal (Sep 1, 2017)

When I was in high school in the early '50's,"Bitchin'" meant something really cool.

But if it was _really_ cool, it was "*Most* bitchin'".

In the '30's, another word for it was "Jake".

Hal


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## JaniceM (Sep 1, 2017)

HiDesertHal said:


> *When I was in high school in the early '50's,"Bitchin'" meant something really cool.*
> 
> But if it was _really_ cool, it was "*Most* bitchin'".
> 
> ...



It must have taken a long time for that one to fade away, because it was still popular when I moved to California in the late 1970s.


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## SMC (Sep 1, 2017)

I'm smiling looking at some of these slang words that I do remember.  In junior college in the 70's in Northern California, "bitchin'" was the word for cool (HiDesertHal, I guess what goes around comes around - I had thought it was a new word then).  

Just the other day I came across a word "baller," which cause me to call my daughter and ask her about it.  Not five minutes later I received emails and texts from mutual friends using that word in a sentence.   It means:

extremely good or impressive; excellent.
_"he must have some pretty baller pick-up lines to be reeling in all those ladies"
_
I won't share my opinion, but..._"baller_?!??"   I think I can safely say I will NEVER use that word.  EVER.

I do use some slang, but I refuse to use abbreviations when texting.  Thankfully my daughter doesn't either, otherwise we'd never text each other (which we do a lot).  I can type whole words in the time it takes me to type unrelated letters.


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## JaniceM (Sep 1, 2017)

What about "billies"?  It was an old Val expression that I picked up, and when I happened to use it a few years ago my youngest didn't know what I was talking about-  "I'd like to go to the mall, but I don't have any billies."  layful:


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## Trade (Sep 1, 2017)

I'm glad the English language is continually changing. 

Imagine if it wasn't. 

We would all be talking like they did in "Beowulf". 

We had to read that in High School. 

It sucked.


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## hollydolly (Sep 2, 2017)

LOL* Kate *, I can't believe that the 3rd word is a term of Endearment ... wow!! LOL 


Most of those I already know and have heard quite a few times...


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## Kadee (Sep 2, 2017)

Holly ..we don't hear that word being used as a term of endearment much now days


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## Trade (Sep 2, 2017)

JaniceM said:


> What about "billies"?  It was an old Val expression that I picked up, and when I happened to use it a few years ago my youngest didn't know what I was talking about-  "I'd like to go to the mall, but I don't have any billies."  layful:



I haven't heard that one. What I've have heard is the term "Three Bills" for someone who weighs 300 or more pounds. "That guy over there has got to go at least three bills"


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## JaniceM (Sep 2, 2017)

Trade said:


> I haven't heard that one. What I've have heard is the term "Three Bills" for someone who weighs 300 or more pounds. "That guy over there has got to go at least three bills"



I've never heard of that one.  

Billies = money, cash, like dollar bills.


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## Butterfly (Sep 2, 2017)

Trade said:


> I'm glad the English language is continually changing.
> 
> Imagine if it wasn't.
> 
> ...



It did indeed suck.


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## JaniceM (Sep 2, 2017)

Trade said:


> I'm glad the English language is continually changing.
> 
> Imagine if it wasn't.
> 
> ...



I liked The Canterbury Tales-  was one of my favorites.


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## SilverSonnet (Sep 30, 2017)

I find slang--true slang as opposed to colloquialisms--entertaining unless it crops up in my students' writing.  Even then, it serves as a good bridge to actual discussion, something they seem to have very little experience with.  It's so effective I even "collect" various slang terms to ask my students about in class.


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## RadishRose (Sep 30, 2017)

When I was a teen, the word "boss" as a superlative was very popular. Later I learned it was also popular back in the 18th century. I was so surprised.


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## Big Horn (Sep 30, 2017)

_Hop,_ used as a noun, meant a dance party during the late nineteenth century just as it does today.


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## elvira (Apr 1, 2018)

Its true


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## Aniri (Apr 3, 2018)

Here is some new slang. I find it funny how it changes so quickly:

Bae: Babe/ Before anything else
Dafuq: What the f***? 
Facepalm: short for "Ugh. idiot!" 
Lulz: Kicks, as in for the kicks- Lulz is an off-shoot of LOLs*. Lulz is usually used in the form of “For the lulz”, which would be just like saying “for the kicks” or “for the laughs”
TBT: Throwback Thursday- When you want to post an old photo, hold off till Thursday and tag it with #ThrowbackThursday or #TBT. It’s a sure-fire way to get more likes and comments on instagram. While TBT is used more on Instagram than anywhere else, it has become a central part of the Internet’s lexicon and is used everywhere.
Yolo: You Only Live Once- YOLO is a justification for doing something that you probably shouldn’t be doing, but want to do it anyway. It’s also used ironically as commentary on someone else doing something idiotic.


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## Radrook (Apr 21, 2018)

Ina said:


> I love the way language is put together, but sometimes slang just confuses me. What slang gets to you? Here are just a few of mine. I always wonder how they came about.
> 
> 1. *Souped* -  as in he souped up his truck.
> 2. *C**opped* -  He copped an attitude.
> ...




I recognize all the ones you mention although I didn't personally use them. The slang that confuses me most is computer-related. I think that "Do you dig?" is still around. 
But I have to be constantly going to the special dictionary on-line to really know what's going on sometimes.  Imagine how English will sound five hundred years from now. I don't thin it will be completely unintelligible but maybe just maybe different enough to cause confusion every fifty words or so?


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## Radrook (Apr 21, 2018)

Aniri said:


> Here is some new slang. I find it funny how it changes so quickly:
> 
> Bae: Babe/ Before anything else
> Dafuq: What the f***?
> ...



How about "fugly"? Ever come across that one?


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