American Slang Terms of the 20th Century

This will eventually be a comprehensive dictionary of slang terminology used in the United States from about 1901 through the year 2000. Right now, this is a work in progress. If you can think of any words I've left out, please e-mail them to me, and I'll add them.

1901-1939

23-Skidoo: This term is used when someone is being asked to leave. This was generally a polite way of saying "Get the fuck out of here!"

At It Again: When someone is doing something they've previously done before.

Baby: A term for a woman.

Booze: Alcohol, could be beer or hard liquor.

Bump: To kill someone. Also known as "Bumping someone off."

Clammed up: To remain quiet about something, to be unwilling to share information.

Copper: A police officer. Also known as a cop.

Cough Up: To reveal information the subject is unwilling to reveal.

Crumb: A person who works and obeys the law, but is unwilling to take a risk. To a gangster during prohibition, to be a crumb was considered to be a great insult.

Cut Out The Funny Stuff: When someone wants another person to stop kidding around with them, or to get serious.

Fella: Contracted form of the word fellow, pronounced with the W subtracted, and the O is replaced with an A.

Floozy: An unchaste woman, or a prostitute.

Framed: To be wrongfully accused of a crime you didn't commit.

Funny Business: When someone is up to something suspicious.

G-Man: A federal agent.

Get'Cha: Contraction of the words: "Get you."

Gigolo: A male prostitute.

Good Lookin': An attractive person. A woman can say this to a man, or a man can say this to a woman.

Goin' Legit: When a criminal gave up his life of crime and chose to live an honest life.

Gunned down: Someone who was the victim of an assassination by way of a firearm.

Gunnin' For Ya: When someone is out to get you. Either a rival gangster, enemy, or the police are after you. This term pre-dates the 20th century.

Gutter rat: A poor person.

Heater: A handgun or other firearm. This term was used by gangsters and other criminals, and was still being used as late as the early 1960's.

Heist: To undertake a scheme to illegally acquire excessive amounts of valuables, such as breaking into a bank vault.

Hideout: A place where criminals can safely hide from the police.

Hitman: A paid assassin.

Hood: The early 20th century definition of this word referred to any lowlife criminal, usually in large cities. The 1980's version of this word has a different definition.

In The Worst Way: To desire something to the utmost: "I wanted to be an engineer in the worst way, so I worked my way through college!"

It's Hot: Indicates something is stolen. Usually refers to a car.

Let Him/Her Have It: To pull the trigger of a gun and kill a victim. Typically, this term was used as a threat. The perpetrator would say to someone, "If you don't do as I say, I'll let him have it!"

Lucky Break: Good fortune. It is possible this term originated in the game of pool. During the break at the opening of the game, it is rare to get a ball in a hole. If someone did, it could be said he got a "Lucky break."

Off The Hook: To be charged with a crime, and then found innocent.

On The Level: Obeying the law. If someone gave up a life of crime, it could be said they were "On the level."

Packin' Heat: Carrying a firearm.

Pimp: Someone who employs prostitutes.

Queer for cat: Lesbian.

Rat: An informer. During prohibition, a lot of people were murdered after being accused of being rats. If someone was being charged with a crime, and they had information about an accomplice, the judicial system would strike a deal with the accused, and promise him a lighter sentence if he gave up information about his accomplices. Often, gangsters would retaliate by gunning these informers down in a drive-by shooting.

Run around: If someone isn't giving you the answers or results you want quickly enough, then it is said they're "giving you the run around."

Scram: To depart hastily.

Speakeasy: An illegal saloon (or bar) usually in a secret location unknown to the police. Gangsters such as Al Capone and Lucky Luciano had numerous speakeasys where their bootleg alcohol was sold. Gambling was also known to take place at these locations.

Stallin': Not taking action while in the process of waiting for a given period of time to go by.

Steppin': Something that is moving exceptionally fast.

Stool Pigeon: An informer. Another word for a stool pigeon is a rat.

Take care of it: Usually implies that a mobster will carry out an assassination attempt.

Tangled Up With: To be unwillingly associated with someone. Example: "I don't know how I got tangled up with him!"

What's The Idea?: This question was asked when the asker didn't understand the actions of the person he was asking.

Winged: If a bullet grazed the side of your head or body, and the wound wasn't dangerous, it is said to have "Winged" you.

Wisecracks: Sarcastic jokes.

1940-1949

Beat: The rhythm of music.

Dressed to the nines: Dressed up for a night on the town.

Fubar: F.U.B.A.R is a an acronym from the American military in World War Two that can either mean "Fucked Up Beyond All Repair" or "Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition."

Gi-rine: A Gi-rine was a soldier in the Marine Corps, and this word was probably a combination of GI and Marine.

Holy Moley: An expression made popular in the Captain Marvel comic books. Billy Batson would often exclaim this remark during stressful situations.

Jam: A verb meaning to play a musical instrument. This word was still in use and had the same meaning through the end of the 20th century.

Make Book: To function as a bookie and organize a bet. Used in the film "Stalag 17" when a POW bet against the possibility that two inmates would successfully escape. It is possible that this term originated during the Prohibition era.

Six ways 'till Sunday: Indicates all possibilities would be tried.

SNAFU: A World War Two United States military acronym standing for: "Situation Normal, All Fucked Up."

Square: Someone who wasn't "hip" or "cool."

That's George: George was an adjective for anything good or cool.

1950-1959

Cool: when something is really nice, or looks great. Also, a person who is the opposite of a square.

Cooties: Imaginary germs that a boy gets from a girl or vice versa. Commonly used by Kindergarten children. This term was used through the end of the 20th century.

Cruisin' for a bruisin': When someone is saying or doing something that is agitating someone to the point that they might engage in a physical confrontation.

Goody-Two-Shoes: Someone who doesn't drink or smoke; someone who doesn't take risks.

Greaser: A teenager who grew his hair long and slicked it back with grease, and listened to rock and roll music.

Hammered: To be exceptionally intoxicated by alcohol. This term was used through the end of the 20th century.

Hit the pavement: When someone wants you to get out of their car, they might use this expression.

Hot: Expression describing an attractive girl or woman.

Keen: Popular word that translates to good or nifty.

Nifty: Another word for cool.

Pep: Stamina.

Put out: When a woman is willing to have sex.

Round and round: To get into a fight. "If you don't stop screwing around, we're gonna go round and round!"

Set Of Wheels: An automobile. A teenage boy might tell his girlfriend: "Next week I'm getting a new set of wheels for my birthday!" Also, just the term "wheels" was used. These terms were still used at the end of the 20th century.

Slacker: An underachiever.

Spiffy: Looking good, all dressed up for a night on the town.

1960-1969

Drop-Out: Someone who quit going to either high-school or college. In the 1960's, dropping out was a popular form of rebellion against the establishment.

Grass: Slang term for marijuana.

Groovy: Another way of saying cool.

High: Under the influence of marijuana. In later decades, high came to describe being under the influence of other drugs, such as methamphetamine and cocaine.

Hip: Someone who is versed in the youth counterculture, and it is assumed uses drugs.

Holding: To be in the possession of drugs. By the early 1990's, this word had fallen out of general use, and was only used by old hippies.

Joint: A marijuana cigarette rolled by hand, or rolled with a rolling machine.

LSD: A hallucinogenic drug. It is an acronym for Lysergic Acid Diethylamide.

Outta': A contraction of the two words "out of." Used in a sentence, a person might say: "Let's get outta' here!" This slang term was very popular in comic books.

Pot: Marijuana.

Speed: Methamphetamine, an illegal stimulant.

Split the scene: An expression that means someone left an area or fled a situation that was undesirable. Example: "After he got her pregnant he split the scene, and she had to raise the kid on her own."

Stoned: To be under the influence of marijuana.

Trip: To be under the influence of LSD.

Weed: Another slang term for marijuana.

1970-1979

Blew My Cover: When an undercover cop accidentally reveals that he is a police officer. This became popular in action movies and television shows of this period, but came into common use around average people. Typically, someone might use the term in this manner: "I was trying to keep it a secret from my friends that I like disco, but my little sister blew my cover!"

Boogie: Boogie was a word associated with disco dancing. It was generally used as a verb.

Disco: A style of dancing that swept the nation and became really popular in the mid to late 1970s. By 1980, it had fallen out of vogue and was all but forgotten.

Do It: To have sex. "Do you want to do it?"

Dyno-Mite: An African-American expression.

Full blast: To turn something up to the maximum. A water valve connected to a hose in which the valve is turned up to the maximum water allowed to be ejected from the hose can be said to be on "full blast." The volume on a television or radio, if turned up all the way, can be said to be on "full blast."

Geek: Another name for a nerd. A person who is socially inept, and extremely intelligent.

Get down: To dance extremely well. Another verb form of this term was "Gettin' down!"

Hang Out: As a verb, it means to socialize at a private residence or a public place with your friends. As a noun, a hang-out was a place where social interaction between friends took place.

Hardcore: Extreme. A girl or a guy might be said to be a "Hardcore skater."

Heavy Metal: A style of hard rock music associated with a youth counterculture known for the males growing their hair long, and smoking marijuana. It consisted of a drummer, an electric guitarist, and an electric bass player. Sometimes there were two guitarists, a lead guitarist and a rhythm guitarist.

Jock: Someone who is an athlete.

Nerd: Someone who usually wears glasses, is extremely intelligent, gets good grades, and is considered uncool. It was common for a nerd to have the inability to fight.

Right On: An African-American expression.

Slut: A promiscuous woman.

Stoner: Someone who grew their hair long, smoked weed, and listened to heavy metal music. By the mid 1980's, Stoners were even more numerous than in the 1970's.

1980-1989

Awesome: Another word for cool.

Bitchin': Word describing an exceptionally great event.

Bodacious: Surfer slang. Bodacious meant the same as "cool" or "awesome."

Crew: The people you hang out with; your friends.

Dis: Term that is a shortened version of the word "dis-respect." This term became popular in the late eighties and early nineties.

Drive-by: Term for a phenomenon that was nothing new in American society; a drive-by shooting simply meant a person or group of people were gunned down by shooters who were being driven in a moving vehicle. This style of killing can be traced back to the prohibition era.

Fly: A person, thing, or event that is extremely cool. Generally used by people who listen to Hip-Hop or Rap music.

Full-on: Completely.

Fully: Another way of saying full-on.

Gotta be: A contraction of two words followed by be. "That's the way it's gotta be" translates to: "That's the way it's got to be."

Haze: A college ritual in which a participant drinks as much alcohol as possible. Many participants have died from alcohol poisoning from this ritual. It is possible this term came into use before the 1980's.

Holmes: An expression used to imply someone was a friend. It is unclear where this expression originated, but it is possible the term was coined in honor of heavy-weight champion Larry Holmes. In a sentence, a person might say: "What's up, Holmes?"

Home-boy: Someone from your home town. This term has absolutely nothing to do with homosexuality, as was the common mistake among people unfamiliar with the term.

Hood: Shortened contraction of the word "neighborhood." If somebody was from your hood, it meant they were from your hometown, or your neighborhood.

Hooter A marijuana cigarette.

Melvin: To pull someone's underwear up so it penetrates the butt crack.

Narc: Someone who is a snitch or a rat. An informer. The term was coined because undercover police officers known as narcotics officers posed as high-school students to make a bust. These officers were nicknamed "Narcs," and hence, anyone who told on someone was referred to as a narc.

Rad: Shortened from the word radical. Word used to describe something cool.

Stoked: Surfer slang for feeling positive about something.

That/This sucks!: When something is not good. A child being asked to do chores instead of being allowed to engage in a fun activity might say: "This sucks!"

Tubular: Another surfer expression that found its way into mainstream slang. Meant the equivalent of "cool" or "awesome."

Wasted: To be exceptionally intoxicated.

1990-2000

Bust a move: To engage in a skillful dance move.

Bust a nut: To ejaculate.

Don't sweat me: Term used to demand that another person mind their own business.

Hella: Northern California slang expression. "It was hella fun!" This word may have originated in the 1970's.

Mad doggin': To stare at someone inappropriately. "Man, that cop was mad-doggin' me the whole time I was rollin' that cigarette! He must've been making sure I wasn't rolling a joint!"

My bad: To admit wrongdoing. Someone spills some water on someone accidentally, and says: "Oops, my bad!"

Spun: To be under the influence of methamphetamine, also known as speed. Synonymous with wired.

Tweeker: Someone who regularly gets high on the drug methamphetamine. The meaning of the term indicates that these drug users enjoy working on things while high.

Wired: To be under the influence of methamphetamine, a powerful illegal stimulant.

Y2K: A term from the late 1990's indicating the possibility that computers would malfunction on January 1st, 2000, because computers were programmed to recognize only the last two digits of the year; therefore, on 1-01-2000, computers would assume it was January 1st, 1900 rather than January 1st, 2000. Some people believed it would lead to disaster, and stockpiled food and water for this event.