New Slang at alphaDictionary
New Words Added to the Dictionary
The Latest Words • May 2010
AlphaDictionary is constantly adding to its Historical Dictionary of American Slang. We now have over 2500 carefully selected, carefully researched words from English slang going back to 16th century England, slang brought to the America by our ancestors. Our Historical Dictionary of American Slang will tell you the meaning of a slang word, its grammatical category, give an example and the approximate decade in which it was introduced. You can search for a word, a meaning (look at all the ways we have said "leave" over the centuries), or a decade. Just type in the decade you are interested in (e.g. 1950) and the dictionary will tell you all the slang terms introduced during the 50s! You can also test your slang to see which decade it places you in with our Slinging Slang quiz.
| Word | PoS | Definition | Example | Year |
| dust | v | To kill. | I could have you dusted (off) tomorrow, you rat. | 1940 |
| low | adj | Sad, depressed. | I just flunked chem and I'm feeling really low. | 1740 |
| coin | n | Money. | I need something to eat, dude; do you have any coin? | 1400 |
| mondo | adj | Huge, humongous. | Davy gave Santa a mondo list of toys he wants for Christmas. | 1960 |
| peeps | n | People, workers. | I'll have my peeps talk to your peeps and we'll close this deal. | 2000 |
| grease | v | To kill. | If that squeeler lets the cat out of the bag, I'll grease him! | 1950 |
| grease | v | To bribe. | I can grease a few palms in city hall to fix the parking ticket. | 1520 |
| stupe | n | A stupid or foolish person. | Don't tell that stupe anything; he'll spill the beans to anyone who asks. | 1820 |
| coals | n | Ashes from a cigar or cigaret. | Hey, man, don't flip your coals on the carpet! | 1980 |
| boat | n | A large luxurious car. | Hey, man, I saw you cruising around in that old boat of your dad's | 1950 |
| rush | n | A sudden pleasant surge of the senses. | I don't get much of a rush from shelling peas. | 1970 |
| can | n | Buttocks. | Frieda slipped on a banana peel and fell on her can. | 1930 |
| wing | v | To wound superficially. | The bank robber took a shot but only winged me. | 1800 |
| umph | n | Spirit, strength, power. | Couldn't you get a little more, I don't know, umph into this ad campaign? | 1930 |
| oomph | n | Spirit, strength, power. | You need to sing that song with a little more oomph to get it across. | 1930 |
| pony up | v | To pay up your share. | Dad finally ponied up $500 so I could get the guitar. | 1820 |
| cough up | v | To give up, stop holding back. | I know you have my glove; now, come on, cough it up. | 1890 |
| hock | n | (1) Being pawned. (2) Debt. | Hardy Spender went into hock to buy that new car of his. | 1860 |
| hock | v | To pawn. | Billy hocked his guitar to get his watch out of hock. | 1900 |
| flame | n | Girlfriend, boyfriend, lover | Phil Anders has dozens of old flames but has never been burned. | 1640 |
| clam up | v | To refuse to speak | When I asked Joe Bones where he got the money for the car, he clammed up. | 1910 |
| dust off | v | Reactivate. | Why not dust off your old tap dance routine for the show. | 1950 |
| frisk | v | Search someone. | Billy goes to a school where students are frisked at the front door. | 1790 |
| batty | adj | Crazy, insane. | If you think I'm going to get me to date your sister, you're batty. | 1900 |
| dotty | v | Crazy, insane. | Wearing a polka dot dress to a funeral is not surprising for someone as dotty as Maude Lynn Dresser. | 1880 |
| greaser | n | (Offensive) A dark haired, olive skinned man. | Who was that greaser I saw you with yesterday? | 1840 |
| sucky | adj | Bad, no good. | Bucky can't go to the beach this weekend. That's sucky! | 1990 |
| oyster | n | A jolly good fellow. | Horace set me up with a beautiful blind date. Quite an oyster, that Horace. | 1880 |
| breeze | n | Something very easy. | Cutting your own hair is a breeze! | 1920 |
| teflon | adj | Unassailable, uncriticizable. | Reagan was the teflon president that no one could criticize. | 1980 |
| G | n | A grand, $1000 | Purvis left town owing me a "G." | 1920 |
| H | n | Horse, heroine. | I know where you can by "H" on the street corner. | 1950 |
Other Resources You Might Enjoy
- Historical Dictionary of American Slang
You will certainly enjoy exploring the changes in US slang over the centuries in this alphaDictionary feature. - The 100 Funniest Words in English
- The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English
- Rebel-Yankee Test
If you liked the dictionary, you would probably enjoy taking Rebel-Yankee Test as much as the 3 million people who have already taken it. - Miss Spelling's Spelling Center
You will find the solutions to all your spelling woes here, including a host of fun and funny quizlets to check your progress. - Dr. Goodword's Language Blog
Here is where Dr. Goodword shares his ideas about words and language. He welcomes your questions and comments. - Discuss slang with others.
Now you can talk with others about your accent and theirs. You might want to talk about other topics, too, at our Alpha Agora. - So, What's the Good Word
While you are here, check out our daily word-of-the-day feature. We select an interesting word and tell you all about it—how to say it, what it means, where it comes from, and how to use it. You can have it delivered to your email inbox daily, for free!



