One thing's for sure: it's almost impossible to compile a definitive list of American slang because every little town has its own words. But this hasn't stopped our researchers from posting their favourite words to this forum, and here's a selection of the most useful - and the most obscure - slang words used in the USA.
As always, if you know of a particularly interesting American slang word that's not listed, start a new conversation below and we'll add it in when the article gets revised.
| A |
| Ain't | Similar to "aren't" but can also be used instead of "isn't", "am not", "will not" or just about any form, tense, or conjunction of "is not". Note: the popularity of this word has been so great that it's been added to some of the new dictionaries. |
| B |
| Back burner, Put on the ... | Deal with it later. |
| Besá
| (Southern US) Said when parting with a good friend or lover, often replaces "Okay I luv you, bye-bye" but in such a way that two males can say that the other means something to them without sounding like they are saying something sexual. |
| Blow chunks | Vomit |
| Boondocks | A location far away from any major town (also "boonies") |
| Booshk | (Southern US) Exclamation when one hits, taps, slaps, bangs or performs some sudden and/or violent action to another. Also used in phrases such as "Booshk ya later man", "How ya booshking?", "Booshkn' spectacular!" or "I've had a Booshk of a day"; though there is no consistency with these other uses of the word. |
| Britches | Pants (trousers in the UK) |
| Bubba | (Southern US) Officially means "Brother" as in a male sibling, but is often extended to mean the oldest son of a family; such a kid is then stuck with the nickname of "Bubba" until they move out of the area. |
| C |
| Chicano | (San Diego) US-born Mexican |
| Chico | (San Diego) Kid, usually male |
| Chill | To maintain your cool, often used as an imperative: "Chill, dude!" |
| Chill out | See "chill" |
| Coke | People from the deep South generally use this term to describe any carbonated beverage. It sounds rather silly in conversation: "You want a coke?" "Yeah." "What kind?" "Root beer." |
| Cool | A good thing, as in "Cool web site, man!" |
| Crillo | (San Diego) Spaniard, sometimes used for mainland Europeans in general ("ll" pronounced "y") |
| D |
| Da bomb! | An expression of good stuff, as in "That gig last night was da bomb, dude!" |
| Dork | A person without social graces (see "dweeb", "nerd", "geek"). |
| Dude | Cool person |
| Drop the ball | To mess something up. |
| Dweeb | A person without social graces (see "dork", "geek", "nerd"). |
| E |
| Eraser | Something used to remove pencil marks from paper |
| F |
| Fag | Homosexual male (certainly not a cigarette) |
| Fanny | One's bottom |
| Fubared | (Southern US) Really messed up, often used when talking about computers or a car that was wrecked (short form of "F***ed up beyond recognition"). |
| G |
| Geek | A person without social graces (see "dork", "dweeb", "nerd"). |
| Geetyet | "Have you eaten?" |
| Get lucky | To have sex |
| Get laid | To have sex |
| Get some | To have sex |
| Grinder | (New England) Large sandwich |
| Grondspindling Hassle | (Southern US) A person that gets in your way, and on your nerves, so bad that you'd actually contemplate killing them. |
| Grub | (Inner city) Food |
| Grubbin' | (Inner city) Eating |
| H |
| Handle | Deal (verb), as in "Get a handle on it." |
| Hick | A back-woods kind of person with an extreme country accent and an assumed small vocabulary (see "redneck"). |
| Hoagie | Large sandwich |
| Homely | An unattractive woman (to the point of exceptional plainness) |
| Homie | (Inner city) Friend (short for "homeboy" or "homegirl" |
| Honk | Vomit |
| Hot | A good and happening thing, as in "That chick is hot!" |
| Hunker down | To start working hard on something |
| Hurl | Vomit |
| L |
| Lame | Pathetic, as in "That's a lame deal" or "Lame excuse!" |
| Later | Short for "See you later" |
| Loco | (San Diego) Crazy |
| Lucked out | Used to "out of luck" in the 1940s, now means the opposite |
| M |
| Mad | Very, as in "He's mad cute" and "That was mad fun" |
| Making groceries | (New Orleans) To go shopping for food |
| Mestizo/Mexicano | (San Diego) Mexican-born |
| N |
| Nerd | A person without social graces (see "dork", "dweeb", "geek"). |
| Niñ
o | (San Diego) Small child ("ñ
" pronounced "nyeh") |
| Nop-djew | (Southern US) "No I haven't, have you?", sometimes "djew" is used on its own, such as "Djew do this?" and is modified when talking to more than one person such as "Dja'll do that?" |
| P |
| Pants | Trousers (in the UK) |
| Pass by ya mamma's | (New Orleans) |
| Phat | Pretty, Fine and Tasty (applied to women) |
| Pimp | (Inner city) No longer refers to prostitution, but is used much like player - "He's a pimp" could mean he knows how to romance a girl, and the term pimp can also be used for women. It is also a verb - "Getting your pimp on" to mean getting ready to meet someone, and "pimpin' it" to mean you are in the process of attracting someone. |
| Player | (Inner city) A man/woman who has many romantic interests; can be used as a derogatory term as in "Don't go out with him, he's a player", or something to be proud of as in "That's not the girl he was with yesterday, he's such a player". |
| Pond | The Atlantic Ocean |
| Pop | Any carbonated beverage, generally used by people from the old north-west states (Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan etc.) |
| R |
| Ralph | Vomit |
| Reckon | "Yes, I think so too" or "I guess I agree", such as "Yep, I reckon" following some statement or question that started with "You figure...?" |
| Redneck | A back-woods kind of person with an extreme country accent and an assumed small vocabulary (see "hick"). |
| Root | To support a team, as in "I'm rooting for the blue team" |
| Rubber | Condom |
| S |
| Score | To have sex |
| Shafted | To have something bad happen, as in "I got shafted." |
| Soda | Any carbonated beverage, generally used by people from the western states |
| Solid | Good, as in "How was that band last night man?" "Solid!" "Oh yeah?" "Like a rock, baby." |
| Speed suggestions | (New Orleans) Speed limit |
| Spew | Vomit |
| Statue | (Southern US) Replaces "Is that you?" when answering a phone. For example:
Receiver: "Jello?"
Caller: "George?"
Receiver: "Statue Billy Bob Joe?"
Caller: "Ya 'tis, statue?" |
| The Sticks | A location far away from any major town (see "boondocks") |
| Sub | Large sandwich (submarine) |
| T |
| 24-7 | 24 hours a day, 7 days a week |
| Tool | Penis |
| Touch base | To meet up again later |
| W |
| Wicked | (New England) Very |
| Y |
| Ya'll | (Southern US) You all |
| Yos | (Southern US) "Is this yours?" or "This is yours" (plural) |
| Yous | (Southern US) "Are You?" or "You are" (singular) |
| Yunz | (South-west Missouri) All of you |
