| airhead |
n. A stupid or
unaware person; moron, dim-wit. Origin: term implies that there
is nothing but air in the subject's head. ("He's confused
again. What an airhead!") Unrenounced to popular
belief, Valley Girls did not invent this word. It was used
to describe them. |
| awesome |
\Awe"some\,
a. 1. Causing awe; appalling; awful; as, an awesome sight.
In the 80's, if something was cool, it was awesome. See
also bad. |
| bad |
adj. very good,
excellent; Cool, Awesome. See also awesome. |
| bad to the
bone |
The group George
Thorogood & the Destroyers had a hit in the early 80's that
had started this quote. The movie Fast Times At
Ridgmont High was bad to the bone! See also
bad. |
| barf bag |
A type of
insult. Something Jo on The Facts of Life might of
called Blair for spilling something on her homework. |
| barf me out |
You might of
heard this come from a Valley Girl after you've said something
offensive to her. Also used to describe something you do
not particularly like. |
| bimbette |
The use of bimbo
would of been too outdated for use in the 80's. Bimbette
would be used instead of calling a girl a "slut".
Also used to describe a girl who is stupid. |
| bodacious |
An 80's guy's
way to describe a woman who had a beautiful body. She is
bodacious with gnarly ta-tas. See also gnarly & ta-tas
for descriptions. |
| bogus/bogue |
Unfair or
unfortunate. Having one night to do a termpaper is so
bogus! |
| boinking |
Having sex.
Some say Bruce Willis's character on Moonlighting created
this word. |
| boho |
A bohemian or
artist. From the late 80's this word emerged. Probably
from the Soho art district in Manhattan. |
| bomb |
Adj. Something
favorable. See also awesome. |
| boy toy |
A word to
describe a cute guy used as a toy for older woman.
Madonna invented this one with her "Boy Toy"
belt on her 1984 Like a Virgin album. |
| butt ugly |
Adj.
Unattractive to the sight. |
| cheesy/cheezy |
Adj. 1. In poor
taste; lame, corny. The gift I received was really cheesy.
2. Overly sentimental or insincere. |
| chill |
v 1. to relax;
hang out. Let's go chill at your place. Dude, just chill.
Made popular by black Americans in the rap phase of the
80's. |
| choice |
Extremely Cool |
| chocoholic |
Word to describe
an alcoholic. Became a somewhat popular word during the
Nancy Reagan "Just Say No" era. |
| clydesdale |
Big,
all-American boy. Meant as a word of praise. Usually
used by mid-80's preppy girls. |
| couch potato |
Someone who sits
in front of the TV on their couch or sofa. With the boom
of cable, MTV and home video, more people parked their butts on
their couches. Hence the term couch potato. |
| crack |
The most
addictive form of cocaine. Not in the form of
powder, but crystallized into a hardened form used to smoke.
Popularized in 1985. |
| deep shit |
Word meaning you
were in trouble. We are in deep shit! |
| dick/dickbrain/dickhead |
A major 80's
comeback. Cock was a bit harsh to use for calling someone
a dick, so these words emerged to describe someone who is unpleasant
and/or stupid. |
| dink |
Two incomes with
no kids. A couple of yuppies with lots of money to burn. |
| dipstick |
n An
unintelligent person; moron, dim-wit; idiot. Popularized
by "Boss Hogg" on TV's The Dukes of Hazzard.
Also used instead of using the word dick. See
also dick/dickbrain/dickhead. |
| ditz |
A less
harsh way of describing a person who is not very smart. See
also airhead. |
| do lunch |
One of the most
used phrases in the 80's. Notoriously used by yuppies to
get together for power lunches or mixing lunch with business.
Lets do lunch. One of the few surviving phrases of
the 80's ,used in the 90's and possibly beyond! |
| do the nasty |
Having sex.
They were doing the nasty last night when I tried to call
her. |
| do/doing the
wild thing |
To have sex.
Popularized by Ton Loc's 1989 hit "Wild Thing".
Not used too often today. See also do the nasty
and boinking. |
| dweeb |
Geek, nerd.
Someone who is not "in". |
| eat
my shorts |
Phrase used as a
comeback. Heavily in use in the 80's and also used on
TV's The Simpsons. If someone was to put you down
in anyway, you can reply with this phrase. |
| eat shit and
die |
An extreme
phrase and implies death on the part of the person on the
receiving end. Most of the time, not literally. Used
in the mid-80's. |
| ecstasy/X/XTC |
"Designer
drug" used to enhance sensations while dancing. Gained
popularity in the early 80's. This drug is still popular
if not more popular throughout the 90's among teens and young
adults on the party scene. |
| eurofag |
Word used by
Americans to describe usually British singers or bands of
the early 80's. |
| eurotrash |
Europeans who
were rich that frequented the club scene in the early to mid
80's. |
| fag |
Gay, queer.
This term for the most part, was not meant to describe
homosexuals or homosexuality. Slang to replace the phrase
"You queer" or the early 80's. See also art
fag, eurofag, fag bashing, fag tag. |
| fag tag |
The little loop
on the back of your polo shirt. Despite someone's actual
sexual preference, people joked of pulling this tag while fag
bashing the person who is wearing the polo shirt. |
| for sure/fer
shur |
To stress what
you are saying. Usually in a valley type accent. Fer
shur, fer shur dude! |
| flamer |
An actual or
openly gay guy. See also fag. |
| fresh |
Cool, new.
Duran Duran's new album is so fresh! |
| fuck'n A |
General
displeasure of and event and also can be used to show that
someone likes something immensely. Fuck'n A, this traffic is
terrible! -or- Fuck'n A, the Prince concert was awesome! |
| gag
me with a spoon |
A typical
Valley Girl response to something you dislike. Not meant
to be taken literally. |
| galpal |
a spin on
boy toy, used to describe a guy's girlfriend or a girl's
girlfriend. Also used to describe a woman who is
not openly gay. |
| gang banging |
Belonging to an
urban street gang. Also used to describe a group of
guys having sex with one girl. |
| get
horizontal |
Having sex.
See also do the nasty, do/doing the wild thing and
boinking. |
| gnarly |
Very good.
Not commonly used today. She is gnarly! |
| grody |
really, really
gross. Sometimes used with: Grody to the max! Max
being a degree of grossness. |
| gross
out/grotesque |
To make someone
sick. Most of the time - not literally. |
| hacker |
Computer genius.
In WarGames, Mathew Broderick played a hacker. |
| have a cow |
Being overly
excited or to make a big deal out of something. |
| hellacious |
Bad, not good. |
| homeboy |
Used in the
early 80's to describe someone who is a gang banger. Later
used to describe a black male - which was okay for blacks to use
this word. And even later was accepted to be used by all
do describe a black guy. |
| hoser |
Loser, jerk.
Rob Moranis & Dave Thomas as "Bob and Doug
McKenzie" made this a popular slang word. See also
take off/take off to the great white north. |
| house music |
Disco type dance
music, very repetitive. See also acid house and deep
house. |
| ill |
Uncool, unhip.
"You be illin'". Sometimes used if someone
looks under the weather, unhappy or even if they have suffered a
catastrophe. |
| JAP |
Jewish American
Princess. Also used to describe a prissy Jewish girl who
dresses preppy, spoiled and is a sexual tease. |
| joanie |
A boring,
not-so-hip girl. From the 70s and 80s show Happy Days,
Erin Moran, the character of Joanie Cunningham the unhip girl of
the 50s. |
| joystick |
Used in place of
dick. From the accessory used with the Atari 2600. |
| "Just
Say No" |
First Lady,
Nancy Reagan's slogan of the early 80's. Sometimes thought
of as an oversimplified slogan aimed to teach kids not to use
drugs. |
| lame |
Used to describe
something or someone who is not cool or acceptable. |
| like |
A word used
before every sentence in the 80's. "Like, are you
going to the prom?" |
| major |
To stress
something you say, immensely. "You are a major
dipstick, Major!" |
| mall chick |
Girl who spends
most of her time at the mall. Big meeting place of the
80's. |
| networking |
To meet
well-connected people at parties. Sometimes old friends
and most of the time, new people. A way for yuppies to get ahead
and make connections. |
| new wave |
A type of
heavily synthesized pop music performed by groups like A Flock
of Seagulls, Duran Duran, The Busboys, Thompson Twins and Eurasure.
A form of disco that had an essence of the future. This
spun off people who dressed "new wave". Lots of
mouse or gel in the hair, makeup on the face, loud colors, etc. |
| o-rama |
Suffix you affix
to a word to describe the whole spectrum of the meaning.
"He is a Dweeb-o-rama". Meaning, you
are describing someone that is every sense of that word. |
| out |
Explaining that
someone is "out of the closet" or openly gay. "She
is out finally." |
| out the door |
A suffix
used at the end of a phrase. "Gag me out the
door." Meaning, something gaged them so much they had
to leave the room. |
| paninaro |
Italian slang
for a person or persons who are fashion conscious. Came
from the Pet Shop Boys with their song "Paninaro". |
| party
hearty/party hardy |
To party
excessively. |
| PC |
1. Personal
Computer (early 80s) 2. Political correctness. |
| pencil you in |
To tentively set
an appointment with someone. If you were not sure you will
make the appointment, you would say, "I'll pencil you in,
just in case something comes up". |
| penis-breath |
A toned
down version of telling someone they enjoy giving oral sex to
men. "Nice going, penis-breath"! |
| phat |
To be phat is a
good thing. If someone says you are phat, it doesn't mean
you are overweight. Sort of like telling someone they are bad.
A term still used today. See also bad. |
| Poser |
A 'wannabe' spin
off |
| preppie/preppy |
A collegiate
type, someone who wore Polo or Izod shirts, deck shoes and a
cloth belt. Preppies usually grew up to be yuppies. See
also yuppies. |
| psych |
A term
meaning "gotcha"! Psych was usually used after
telling someone something not true. |
| queer |
An early 80's
way of saying someone is gay. Not necessarily true though.
See also fag. |
| rad/radical |
If something is
rad, it's not only attractive, it's attractive immensely. |
| rap |
Speaking or
singing rhythmically over a beat in the background. One
who raps is a rapper. |
| road pizza |
Road kill. A
dead animal on the road. |
| rush/head
rush |
Big thrill.
"That roller coaster was such a head rush"! |
| schmooze |
To kiss up to
someone. Yuppies schmoozed their way to the top of their
field. |
| scumbag |
An undesirable
person. Scumbag in the 80s did not mean condom. |
| shitting
bricks |
One that is
extremely nervous. |
| skank |
1. Physically
dirty, filth 2. Immorally dirty. 3. Disapproval |
| slamdance |
Punk teens
throwing themselves while "dancing", trying to harm
either themselves or others for enjoyment. The same sort
of dancing resides today in mosh pits. |
| spazzing |
Overly excited.
An exaggeration of being excited. |
| stoked |
To be ready to
do something. |
| stud |
A macho
guy, man or teenager. Guys used to call each other studs
as well as woman referring to a good looking guy as a stud.
Also used to describe a man who is sexually active. |
| sucks |
Disapproval of
something or someone. "This sucks". -or-
"He sucks". |
| ta-tas |
A woman's
breasts. |
| take off/take
off to the Great White North |
A Canadian
expression made popular by Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas who
played "Bob and Doug McKenzie" in the beer guzzling
movie Strange Brew. They also did a song with Geddy
Lee of Rush named Take Off to the Great White North.
They emphasized the Canadian accent in their movies and
recordings. Saying 'eh after each sentence. See also
hoser. |
| to the max |
To the extreme.
Taking it to the max or maximum level. |
| totally |
Another way to
stress what one is saying. "That is totally
tubular". -or- "School is totally uncool". |
| tubular |
Something that
is cool. Something overwhelming. "Tubular, totally
tubular." |
| UV |
Ultraviolet
rays. "I'm going to the beach to catch some
UV's." |
| Valley
Girl/Val |
Airheaded,
spoiled girls in California's San Fernando Valley. Later, valley
girl talk or valspeak inhabited the 80s across America. A
Valley Girl would of said something like: "That stud is
like, omygod, so rad!" |
| veg |
Term used to
describe chilling out or taking it easy. Derived from the
word vegetable or someone who is paralyzed. A couch
potato would be a veg. See also couch potato. |
| wannabe |
A person
who would like to be like someone else. Usually a pop star or a
person in the public eye. There were lots of Madonna
wannabe's in the mid-80s. |
| WASP |
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant. To be a WASP
in the 80s was to be very "white" or well-to-do.
A yuppie could be called a WASP. See also yuppie. |
| wicked |
Another word for
good, radical or bad. See radical and bad. "She is wicked nice." |
| yuppie |
Young urban
professional -or- young upwardly mobile professional. A
well educated, career oriented, almost always white and driven
by lots of money. This person is also into the social
scene especially if it could better their business or career. |
