The Eighties Lexicon



The Eighties Lexicon | |

|airhead | |

|An intellectual lightweight. A term invented to describe a Valley Girl. | |

|awesome | |

|Equal to or slightly better than "cool," but not tubular. | |

|bad | |

|Something that is very good or very cool. | |

|barf bag | |

|Like "jerk", a disparaging term used by one person to describe another. | |

|bodacious | |

|Usually used as an expression of appreciation for a woman's attributes, but also generally as a form of enthusiastic appreciation for a member of the opposite | |

|sex. | |

|bomb | |

|Used to describe something in a very favorable light, as in "That movie was totally the bomb!" | |

|bottom line | |

|Yuppie-speak for getting to the crux of a matter, as in "Okay. This is the bottom line." | |

|boy toy | |

|Initially used to describe a young woman who had a reputation for being "easy." In her first incarnation, Madonna exploited the boy toy image. Later used to | |

|describe a young man who was the plaything of an older woman (or man). | |

|carpe diem | |

|A Yuppie term, from the Latin for "seize the day," meaning to go for it, take a chance, get on with life. | |

|cheesy | |

|Something that is way too sentimental. | |

|chill/chill out | |

|Relax, calm down. Take a chill pill. To be practicing this is to be "chillin'." | |

|couch potato | |

|Term coined to describe those who spend way too much time in front of the television, thanks to the VCR and the advent of cable. | |

|cowabunga! | |

|An '80s battle cry, sort of like "Geronimo!" was to a previous generation, uttered when someone is about to do something crazy or adventurous. | |

|DINK | |

|Acronym that stands for "dual income, no kids" -- a Yuppie couple with no children and lots of money to spend on themselves. | |

|dipstick | |

|A dumb person. Popularized by Boss Hogg on The Dukes of Hazzard . | |

|do lunch | |

|A Yuppie term expressing a desire to get together in the future, but without a firm commitment as to when. | |

|do the wild thing | |

|To have sex. | |

|downer | |

|Anything -- an event, a movie, a person -- that is depressing. The Challenger disaster was a real downer for everyone. | |

|dude | |

|A pronoun made popular in the 1980s, synonymous with "Man," as in "Hey, dude, what's the word?" | |

|dweeb | |

|A synonym for "nerd". | |

|eat my shorts | |

|An expression of mild contempt. Used by Judd Nelson in The Breakfast Club before Bart Simpson made it even more famous. | |

|for sure | |

|An expression of heartfelt agreement. "Man, she is hot!" "For sure, dude!" | |

|fresh | |

|Hip term used as a synonym for "appealing" or "original". | |

|gag me with a spoon | |

|A Valley Girl expression connoting extreme disgust. | |

|gang banger | |

|A member of an urban street gang. | |

|get horizontal | |

|To do the wild thing. The phrase originated with Olivia Newton-John's song "Physical". | |

|gnarly | |

|Valley speak for something that is very good. | |

|grody | |

|Something that is extremely gross. "Dude, this burger is grody to the max." | |

|gross out | |

|Synonymous with disgusting. To "gross me out" you had to do something that was really disgusting. | |

|guppie | |

|Variation of yuppie to denote a gay, upwardly-mobile person. | |

|have a cow | |

|To be over-excited or upset almost to the point of hysteria. "He's, like, just a rock star. Don't have a cow!" | |

|hellacious | |

|Used to describe something that is very difficult, as in, "That final was hellacious!" | |

|homeboy | |

|Term used to identify someone as a friend, or a member of your clique, originating from urban street gang jargon. | |

|hoser | |

|A loser, a rube. Canadian in origin, made popular by the film Strange Brew. | |

|hottie | |

|Term used to describe someone, of either gender, who is sexy. | |

|hunk | |

|A majorly handsome male. See also studmuffin. | |

|I'm so sure | |

|A sarcastic expression of disbelief, as in "Chad asked you out on a date? Like, I'm so sure!" | |

|ill | |

|Uncool, not hip; "You be illin'" is to say "You don't look good" or "You look miserable." | |

|joanie | |

|Derisive Valley-speak for a square, un-hip girl, derived from the Joanie Cunningham character on Happy Days. | |

|jock | |

|Usually a term of derision directed at self-obsessed athletes. | |

|lame | |

|Anything -- an event, a person, a movie -- that is dumb, uninspiring or just not with it, as in "That song is so lame!" | |

|like | |

|Originating with Valley girls, it can be used as many times as necessary in a sentence, usually to herald the upcoming use of an adjective, such as "That movie| |

|was like so lame that it like grossed me out." | |

|major (majorly) | |

|As in "He is a major hunk!" or "That was a major gross out!" | |

|make my day | |

|Derived from the Clint Eastwood "Dirty Harry" flick Sudden Impact; could be used as a macho response to a challenge, or, in the past tense, sarcastically, as | |

|in "Oh, yeah, that just made my day!" -- which is to say, it didn't. | |

|mega | |

|Prefix that can be attached to nearly any word for enhancement, as in "That megasucks!". Also, synonymous with major. | |

|Omigod! | |

|Valley speak expression denoting surprise or disgust, with each syllable separated by a pause. | |

|party hearty | |

|The warcry of '80s fratboys everywhere, meaning to party with a dedication sometimes sadly lacking in calculus class. | |

|PC | |

|Short for political correctness, as in not saying or doing anything that might hurt anyone's feelings, and which first reared its ugly head in the '80s. | |

|pencil you in | |

|Yuppie-speak for making an appointment or date that is subject to change. | |

|preppie | |

|They of the polo shirt and khaki trousers, all the rage in the '70s, but who either became yuppies or nerds in the '80s. | |

|psyche! | |

|After you tell somebody something that upsets or excites them, you say this to demonstrate that you were just fooling. | |

|queer | |

|A pejorative unrelated to homosexuality, used to describe something or someone that is peculiar or lame. | |

|quiche | |

|Meaning "weak" or "effeminate" and derived from the 1982 book Real Men Don't Eat Quiche. | |

|rad/radical | |

|Term coined by skateboarders in the '80s to describe something that is very cool. | |

|rock my world | |

|As in "amaze me!" | |

|rush | |

|A big thrill, as in "That concert was a major rush!" | |

|scumbag | |

|A derisive term denoting an extremely undesirable person. | |

|skank | |

|Like scumbag, with an added connotation of lack of morals or hygiene. | |

|slamdance | |

|Started by punk rockers, a form of dancing that required participants to hurl themselves bodily at one another. | |

|space cadet | |

|Used to describe someone who is dumb or just wacky. | |

|stoked | |

|Fired up, ready to go. | |

|studmuffin | |

|See hunk. | |

|take a chill pill | |

|Calm down. See chill. | |

|to the max | |

|To the ultimate level, as in, "That skank is, grody to the max." | |

|totally | |

|Completely, to the max. | |

|tubular | |

|To describe something that is so totally cool as to defy description. | |

|UVs | |

|In sunbathing, to catch some rays. Stands for ultraviolet, as in "I'm heading down to Malibu to get some UVs." | |

|Valley Girl | |

|Term originally applied to spoiled girls who lived in the San Fernando Valley and who developed their own lingo, known as Valspeak, but which in time was used | |

|to describe any slightly goofy mall chick. | |

|veg (out) | |

|To take it easy, to not do anything. "I think I'll like veg out today." | |

|wannabe | |

|Derived from a 1985 magazine story about obsessed young female fans of Madonna, who wanted to be just like her, and did everything in their power to look and | |

|act like her. | |

|waycool | |

|Beyond cool, or at least very very cool. | |

|wicked | |

|Really good. Related to bad and radical. | |

|word! | |

|A very utilitarian slang word; used as an expression of enthusiastic agreement, an exclamation, or when you just didn't know what else to say. | |

|yuppie | |

|The upper-middle class Baby Boomer who is obsessed with career and conspicuous consumption; stands for Young Urban (or Upwardly-Mobile) Professional. | |

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