A Conversation for American Slang

80's slang (and other American things)

Post 1

HippieChick

(some 80's slang)
Rad: see radical
Radical: good
Awesome: good
Bad: good
Bummer: a bad thing
Bodacious: bad
Heavy: bad

(some other random slang)
B.F.E.: see boondocks, short for Butt F*** Egypt
Hella: all-purpose adverb meaning "very" most of the time (e.g. "That was hella cool.")
Kick-Ass: good
to Kick Someone's Ass:
to beat someone up
to Open a Can of Whoop-Ass on Someone:
to beat someone up (e.g. "I'm gonna open a can of whoop-ass on you if you don't shut-up!")
Cookie: small, round, sweet pastry items (referred to as biscuits elsewhere)
Biscuit: soft, thick, overly dry and crumbly breakfast rolls that are often served with gravy for no good reason
Give a s***: to care (only used in the negative or sarcastic sense. "I don't give a s***." "Do I look like I give a s****?")
Eat My Shorts:
I don't really care, so you can just go shove it.
Sarcasm: (obscure) to say something with the intention of expressing the opposite meaning (this is rarely used here
in the U.S., and can cause much confusion amongst Americans)

(some South Park-inspired slang)
Sweet: good
Weak: bad (as in not good)


Re: 'Do I look like I give a s**t?'

Post 2

Cheerful Dragon

Has anyone got any idea where the word 'DILLIGAF' comes from. It's one I picked up from a colleague, and means 'Do I look like I give a f**k?' I use it because I can say what I feel without offending anyone by using bad language, but I don't know where it originated. It sounds American, but I could be wrong (I'm English, by the way). After all, I've been led to believe that Americans just come out and say what they think, but this is probably an over-generalisation.


Re: 'Do I look like I give a shit?'

Post 3

scullythevampïre

It's probably military, like SNAFU (Situation Normal! All F**ed up), FUBAR (F**ed up beyond recognition) and FTA (F**k the Army).


Sarcasm

Post 4

Hitler Stole My Potato

Hey, I'm American, and me and my homies use sarcasm all the time.
Although, we love British Humor (Monty Python, Douglas Adams, etc...), and no one besides us seems to understand us. So maybe you're right. Americans are about retarded, anyway. Stupid tits.
By the way, I only use "homies" and other G slang to mock them. I'm a bastard.


Re: 'Do I look like I give a s**t?'

Post 5

Kallahan

Also military slang SOS s**t on a shingle used to describe army food


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 6

FLIPPYTALE (Researcher 52759)

to rip some one a new one....or to rip him/her a new a'hole - to really yell or tell off some one especially if they done something really stupid.

or
to rip into some one


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 7

Kallahan

Bodacias was a good thing not bad I belive the word your looking for is bogus


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 8

HippieChick

ack, you're right. I meant "bogus."

I suppose I also forgot "gnarly."


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 9

scullythevampïre

Why, so you did! BAD HIPPIE CHICK!


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 10

Lupa Mirabilis, Serious Inquisitor

'Hella' doesn't seem to exist in Southern California, where I grew up; I had never heard it until I moved to the northern half of the state. What I'd like to know is where it comes from (etymologically, that is, not geographically; while the latter would also be interesting to know, I doubt anyone could pin it down.) I've also been struggling to get a bead on the meaning; in most cases it does seem to mean 'very,' although sometimes it's used more for emphasis than to express an extreme (something like 'frigging')...but just recently I heard someone describe a skiing accident with the words 'and my skis flew hella off,' and once I saw in print (although I'm not certain the source was a native Northern Californian, so he/she might have been using it incorrectly) a phrase like 'Everyone hella does such-and-such.' All this has left me hella confused.


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 11

Lupa Mirabilis, Serious Inquisitor

When it comes to beating people up, how about 'getting medieval on their @$$,' or 'beating them like a red-headed stepchild'?


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 12

HippieChick

"Hella" is most certainly an adverb...that's all that can be said about it. Etymologically speaking, "hella" is a shortening of "hell of a," as in "That's one hell of a bump you got there, Joe." At some point this moved from being an adjective to an adverb, as well as being shortened. Of course, this is mere speculation on my part, but it sounds about right to me.

Since it's an adverb, it can modify adjectives in the same way that "very" does, as in "hella cool," "hella lame," or "hella weird." But it can also modify verbs, yielding strange things like "Everyone hella hates me."

HC


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 13

Lupa Mirabilis, Serious Inquisitor

Thanks! You know, I hadn't realized until just now that in the phrase "Everyone hella does X" the "hella" was modifying the verb and wasn't an adjective. That clears things up a lot.


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 14

Slim

"Hella" is the invention of Trey Parker and Matt Stone, creators of South Park.They may have heard it in Colorado, but it didn't exist in the lexicon, 'til Eric Cartman.


80's slang (and other American things)

Post 15

HippieChick

"Hella" certainly has been popularized by South Park, but it did exist in the pre-Stone/Parker era. It wasn't nearly as popular, but Eric Cartman is not the originator of the phrase.


Sarcasm

Post 16

mockturtl

you're also an idiot


Hella

Post 17

Ellee

I grew up in Colorado and moved to California well before the blight that is South Park fell upon the land, and can happily say that 'hella' did not originate with Eric Cartman.

As far as I have seen hella is a strictly Northern California thing. In fact, use it in San Luis Obispo or points south and be ready for some harassment. Putting 'the' in front of a freeway number as in 'the 405' or 'the 101' is a Southern California thing. Use of this in San Luis Obispo or points north often leads to snickering and pointing. There is a great deal of geographical pride 'round here.

Also, some new ones:
don'cha know – don't you know (Northern US)
rubbish – New English garbage. I take out the trash myself.


Hella

Post 18

Jessie, queen of the strange - Nirvana rocks my socks!

Some popular songs (No Doubt's 'Hella Good' comes to mind) have used the phrase, also bringing to the masses.


Re: 'Do I look like I give a s**t?'

Post 19

York Yankee 234250

SOS specifically, is creamed chipped beef on toast.
It is thin slices of beef (so the label says..tho I'm not convinced)
in a white sauce, poured on toast


Re: 'Do I look like I give a s**t?'

Post 20

Vicki Virago - Proud Mother

Hi Researcher 234250.....


......if you go to your personal space......click on "Edit page" you can leave something, anything there and it will open up your space for people to leave messages.....smiley - biggrinsmiley - grovel


Key: Complain about this post