The Most Popular Slang Word the Year You Were Born

Like fashion, slang changes with the times. A word that seems current one year can feel wildly dated as time goes on. (Just think about how weird it would be to say something is "da bomb" in 2022.) Even when watching old movies, it's hard not to laugh at the since-abandoned phrases they use so seriously. And forget about any generations before that — someone living a century ago would hardly be able to communicate with someone using today's modern slang.

With the help of the Oxford English Dictionary (especially its handy dandy word of the year records) and a few other archival resources, we've rounded up the slang words that defined every year. Though some words really reflect their time period, you might be surprised by how old some of our go-to slang actually is. Or how much you've forgotten — we know that we're still trying to forget about "whassup."