The Latest Words alphaDictionary is constantly adding to its Historical Dictionary of American Slang. We now have around 2500 carefully selected, carefully researched words from English slang going back to 16th century England, slang that was brought to the Americas 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.

Here are the 25 new slang terms added to our slang dictionary in the month of March 2008. Please contact us should you come across any slang terms you know that are not in our dictionary.

barnburner n A highly successful event. The poetry reading turned out to be a real barnburner! 1970 barnburner n A person or organization that overreacts, throws the baby out with the bathwater. That Congress was a barnburner that tried to reduce oppressive regulations by removing them all. 1840 barnstorm v To make a tour of rural areas. President Clinton was barnstorming for his wife's presidential campaign. 1840 beat n Policeman's patrol area. My old man walked a beat for 20 years. 1720 bulky n A policeman. Keep the noise down or you'll bring the bulkies down on you. 1840 dizzy adj Goofy, crazy. Some dizzy blonde at the station sold me the wrong ticket and I ended up in Schenectady instead of New York. 1500 fence n Dealer in stolen goods. Rocky couldn't find a fence to buy Elvis's underwear after he stole it. 1700 galoot n A strong, soft-hearted man The big galoot brought me flowers after chasing away that wolf Hans from next door. 1860 gob n A wad, a lump, large amount. I here Jack Uzzi has gobs of money. 1540 lug n A thug. The big lug never forgets my birthday. 1930 lug n Coercion, pressure. He wouldn't pay until we put the lug on him. 1920 match v Set fire to, to commit arson. Morty Gusting matched his own house to get the insurance money. 1970 movie n Motion picture. I do enjoy a good movie after dinner. 1900 rhubarb n Argument, squabble Harry Batten was thrown out of the game for getting in a rhubarb with the umpire behind homeplate. 1940 scoop n Alert on a good news story. Rhoda Book always gets scoops on the honeymoon of the Hollywood stars. 1870 slush fund np Money for questionable activities. Robin Banks has a slush fund for his private parties on the company yacht. 1870 smokey n Highway patrolman. I would have been here sooner the but the smokies were out in force. 1970 snazzy adj Smart, stylish, nice looking. Did you see that snazzy new car Sue Barew is driving around in? 1930 spark v Hug and kiss. I saw ma and pa out sparking on the front porch swing. 1800 spark n Elegantly dressed young man or a boyfriend. Manuel Override thinks he's quite the spark at school. 1600 stomp v Dilute drugs. By the time the dealers stomp the drugs, they hardly give you a buzz. 1960 swig v Drink, gulp, swallow. Mojo took a swig of Gatorade and flew out of the gym. 1620 swigger n Drinker. Mojo was a heavy swigger in his youth. 1940 tearjerker n Sentimental story or movie. The TV series "Touched by an Angel" was a real tearjerker. 1920 wolf n Aggressively forward male. Stay away from Lance Sterling; he is the biggest wolf in school. 1940 Go to the Historical Dictionary of American Slang through this link. 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. 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!