American Slang You Should Know!

Learning American street slang is vital to understanding the growth and evolution of the English language. Slang is defined as a casual type of language that is playful or trendy. Funny American slang words consist both of coined words and phrases and of new or extended meanings attached to established terms. Slang tends to develop from the attempt to find fresh and vigorous, colorful, pungent, or humorous expression.

Examples of common slang within the United States include:

- Awks – Awkward

- Bae – “Before Anyone Else” And Baby

- Cheddar – Money

- BF / GF – Boyfriend Or Girlfriend

- Dope – Cool Or Awesome

- BFF – Best Friend Forever

- GOAT – Greatest Of All Time

- Bruh – Same As “Bro”

- Gucci – Good Or Cool

- Dude – Guy

- Hundo P – 100 Percent Certain

- My Bad – My Mistake

- Lit – Amazing

- Jacked – Stolen

- OMG – “Oh My Gosh” Or “Oh My God”

- Kicks – Shoes

- Rides – Sneakers Or Shoes

- Off The Chain – Very Cool

- Salty – Bitter

- Props – Proper Respect

- Sic – Something That Is Cool

- Keep It Real – Be Yourself

- Skurt – Go Away

- Uber – The Ultimate

- Snatched – Looks Good

- Creeper – A Weird Person

- Straight Fire – Hot Or Trendy

- Sway – Style

- TBH – To Be Honest

- Hot – Attractive

- Thirsty – Trying To Get Attention

- Boo – Boyfriend Or Girlfriend

- V – Very

- Badass – Ultra-Cool Person

- YOLO – You Only Live Once

- Wheels – Car

- Swagger – Self-Confident

- Grand – A Thousand Dollars

- Airhead – Stupid

- Go Banana – Go Crazy

- Crash – Sleep

- Beat – To Win

- Buck – Dollar

- Hooked – Addicted

- Nuts – Crazy

- Pissed Off – Very Annoyed

- Booze – Alcohol

- B4 – Before

- LOL – Laugh Out Loud

- LMAO – Laughing My Ass Out

- Act Up – To Behave Badly

- And Then Some – And A Lot More

- Bear In Mind – To Remember Something

- Call It A Day – To Quit Or To Finish For Today

- To Catch Up – To Meet Up And Update

- Dead Tired – Exhausted

- Easy Does It – Let’s Do It Carefully

- To Eat Out – To Eat Outside

- To Keep An Eye Out – Watch Carefully

- Far And Wide – Everywhere

Using Slang

Slang is informal speech, and therefore should be avoided in formal writing, such as business correspondence, academic projects and essays. Slang is also not jargon, which is terminology associated with a particular profession or pastime. Outside a formal or professional setting, slang is a vital part of American English. Screenwriters and novelists often draw on the power of slang in their craft, and it's a rare conversation between Americans that doesn't feature at least some funny American street slang. For more context, explore the history of American slang words. Happy learning!