Mental Floss

SLANG

The 1960s gave us a lot of marvy slang still in use today.

Discover the most iconic slang from the 1960s and how it shaped modern language. From 'flower power' to 'groovy,' these terms are the linguistic legacy of the decade.

Jake Rossen


You might want to keep some of these slang terms for kids in your back pocket.

Looking for new ways to describe the children in your life? From ankle-biters and saucepan lids to breadsnatchers and drape apes, these are funny slang terms for kids you’ll definitely want to use.

Mark Peters






In Gen X parlance, this dude totally rocks.

From yuppie to headbanger, we have Generation X to thank for these terms that became popular in the 1980s and ’90s.

Michele Debczak
Residents of London’s East End, circa 1900.

Grab your best china plate (a.k.a. mate) and feast your mince pies (otherwise known as your eyes) on these fascinating and delightful terms in this guide to Cockney rhyming slang.

Mark Peters


Ladies riding in a car—or, if you’re using slang from the 1900s, an ‘automobubble’—circa 1901.

Wastoid, wedgie, and dumpster fire, oh my! In the latest episode of The List Show, you can learn about the fun origins of some pretty wacky and absolutely real slang terms from the last hundred years.

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Deep in the heart of Texas, indeed.

You may know Austin, Texas, as the Live Musical Capital of the World that’s devoted to keepin’ itself weird—but you might not be familiar with the city’s many slang terms.

JC De Leon
What constitutes ‘upstate’ is a little controversial.

You might know everything there is to know about New York City slang, but the moment you leave the city, fuhgeddaboudit. Upstate New York has its own set of regional colloquialisms, often depending on which area of the state you’re in.

Rick Marshall




There’s no doubt about it—rotting food is gross.

The word ‘gross,’ which came to English from French, took on a variety of senses in English related to size. But the ‘gross of today is different from the ‘gross’ of the past thanks to teens.

Arika Okrent




Go ahead—belch.

We’ve used the term ‘rat’ to refer to an informer since approximately 1910. But criminals have had many more names for snitches over the years.

Erin McCarthy
You’ll want to start using these butt-related euphemisms from days past.

When talking about the fundament, some terms have slipped through the crack of lexical history—so please enjoy these old and enjoyable terms for the hindquarters.

Mark Peters