80's Slang

Class of 1985

Santa Teresa Saints

80’s Slang

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bimbette The use of bimbo would of been too outdated for use in the 80's. Bimbette would be used instead of calling a girl a "slut".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 has a bodacious set of ta-tas.” from Officer and a Gentleman. See ta tas

bogus Unfair or unfortunate. Having one night to do a term paper is so bogus!

boinking Having sex. Some say Bruce Willis's character on Moonlighting created this word.

boy toy A word to describe a girl being a toy for a guy. Madonna invented this one with her "Boy Toy" belt on her 1984 Like a Virgin album.

butt ugly Adj. Unattractive to the sight.

chill v 1. to relax; hang out. Let's go chill at your place. Dude, just chill. Made popular during the rap phase of the 80's.

choice Extremely Cool

chocoholic Word to describe a person addicted to chocolate. Became a somewhat popular word during the Nancy Reagan "Just Say No" era.

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. Term used when someone is acting stupid, “Are you smoking crack?”

deep sh-t Word meaning you were in trouble. “We are in deep sh-t!”

dipstick n An unintelligent person; moron, dim-wit; idiot. Popularized by "Boss Hogg" on TV's The Dukes of Hazzard.

ditz A less harsh way of describing a person who is not very smart. See also airhead.

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 sh-t 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.

for sure / fer shur To stress what you are saying. Usually in a valley type accent. Fer shur, fer shur dude!

F--k'n A General displeasure of and event and also can be used to show that someone likes something immensely. “F---'n A, this traffic is terrible!” -or- “F---'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.

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. “My mom was going to have a cow over my outfit.”

hellacious Bad, not good. “Those were some hellacious waves, man.”

homeboy Used in the early 80's to describe someone who is a gang banger.

Hoser / hose-head Loser, jerk. Rob Moranis & Dave Thomas as "Bob and Doug McKenzie" in “Strange Brew” made this a popular slang word. See also take off / take off to the great white north.

joystick A new word, that was a name for an 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. “Just Say No was lame.”

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.

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. See punk rocker.

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.

party hearty / party hardy To party excessively. “Yo man, we TOTALLY party heartied last night.”

PC Personal Computer (early 80s)

punk rocker Big hair either stiffly spiked all around or in a mowhawk, hair normally of various colors, either dark cloths and overcoats, or totally over the edge bright cloths, dark makeup, . See new wave.

preppie A collegiate type, someone who wore Polo or Izod shirts, deck shoes and a cloth belt. THE outfit was beige pants, pink polo, green sweater, deck shoes with penny on top and no socks. 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.

Rad / radical If something is rad, it's not only attractive, it's attractive immensely. “That car is totally rad.”

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"!

scumbag An undesirable person.

Sh--ting bricks One that is extremely nervous, wound up. “When I got pulled over, I was sh-tting bricks.”

skank 1. Physically dirty, filth 2. Immorally dirty. 3. Disapproval. 4. Slut. “That girl is like such a skank.”

slut A girl that gets around, advertises herself as easy with revealing cloths.

Spaz / spazzing Overly excited. An exaggeration of being excited. “Kim is a totally spaz.”

stoked To be ready to do something. “We were totally stoked about the party.”

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. “What a stud.”

sucks Disapproval of something or someone. "This sucks". -or- "He sucks".

ta-tas A woman's breasts. See bodacious.

take off eh 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 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. “That outfit was awesome to the max”

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 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, vegetate, or someone who is paralyzed. “We just sat back and vegged.” 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. “She is like SUCH a Madonna wannabe, it isn’t funny.”

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.

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