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\
adj. 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
adj.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
n. 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.

Bodacious
adj. 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!

Bonus
excl. Used to denote satisfaction or one's approval. ie. "My parents are going away next weekend, I'm throwing a party!" "Bonus!"

Bomb
adj. Something favorable. See also awesome.

Boss
adj. very cool. ie. "That version of the "Synchronicity" cover is boss!"

Boy toy
n. 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. 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.

Chill Pill
excl. Take it easy. ie. "Take a Chill Pill! You're gonna get us all busted."

Chillin'
v. To be resting. ie. "I'm just chillin' with my homey's in my crib."

Cool
1.adj. Something really good and hip. ie. "That's a cool shirt." 2.excl. Very good, very hip. ie. "I just scored tickets to Bruce Springsteen" "Cool!"

Cool Beans
adj. Cool, awesome, agreeable.

Crib
n. A homeboy's residence. ie. "I'm just chillin' with my homey's in my crib."

Choice
adj. Extremely Cool

Clydesdale
n. Big, all-American boy. Meant as a word of praise. Usually used by mid-80's preppy girls.

Couch potato
n. 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.

Damn Sam!
excl. Wow. Unbelievable.

Deck
v. To beat someone up...ie. "I'm gonna deck you if you play that damn Raffi album again!"

Def
adj. Something very hip. ie. "That jam was def."

Deke
v. To fake someone out. ie. "I deked him out of his shoes"

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

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

Do lunch
v. 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!

Dope
dj. Very hip and with it. ie. "Those Addidas are dope!"

Dude
1.n. Someone who is cool. 2.excl. A greeting. Used with a close friend that is considered cool. ie. "Dude!"

Dudette
n. A woman who is cool. Not as commonly used as dude.

Dudical
adj. Used to describe a place or thing as cool as someone dubbed a "dude".

Dufus
n. Someone who acts stupid. ie. "Only a dufus would play with matches." or "Don't be a dufus."

Duh
adj. Stupid. Usually used with the word "like" Dweeb
n. 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.

Elite
n. A person who has achieved a high status in the BBSing culture. ie. "He has a 9600 BAUD modem, he's elite now."

Excellent
excl. Superb.

Fly
adj. Very hip and with it.

Fresh
adj. Cool, new. Duran Duran's new album is so fresh!
gag me with a spoon
A typical Valley Girl response to something you dislike. Not meant to be taken literally.

Funky
Multiple meanings, 70's disco leftover

Galpal
n. a spin on boy toy, used to describe a guy's girlfriend or a girl's girlfriend.

Generic
adj. Of poor quality; poorly planned or executed. ie. "Hey man, do you like that new Atari game, Moon Patrol?" "Hell no, dude! That game is generic!"

Get Out
excl. I don't believe you. ie. "I got tickets to Duran Duran." "Get Out!"

Gnarly
adj. Very good. Not commonly used today. She is gnarly!

Grody
adj. really, really gross. Sometimes used with: Grody to the max! Max being a degree of grossness.

Gross out/grotesque
v. To make someone sick. Most of the time - not literally.

Grouse
adj. Cool, its an Australian slang term. ie "That's so grouse man"

Hacker
n. Computer genius. In WarGames, Mathew Broderick played a hacker.

Have a cow
Being overly excited or to make a big deal out of something.

Heavy
adj. A situation which is grave. ie. "This algebra test is heavy." Most notable use of this phrase was in Back to the Future by the lad character portrayed by Michael J. Fox. The origins of this use can be traced to the sixties when it referred to a close personal friend.

Heinous
adj. Not good. ie. "That wipeout was heinous dude."

Homeboy
n. A close friend. ie. "I like to hang with my homeboys at the mall."

Homey
1.n. A friend. see Homeboy. 2.n. A greeting. "Hey homey, don't play that". Widespread use can be attributed to the show "In Living Color" which had the demented clown (portrayed by Daymon Wayons) whose catch phrase was "Homey don't play that" in response to a situation he didn't approve of.

'Hood

abrv. Neighborhood. ie. "My homey's like to hang out with me in my 'hood"

Hellacious
adj. Bad, not good.

Hoser
n. 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
adj. Uncool, unhip. "You be illin'". Sometimes used if someone looks under the weather, unhappy or even if they have suffered a catastrophe.

"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.

Kickin'
adj. Fun, exciting, and cool. ie. "This is a kickin' party"

Killer
adj. very cool. ie. "Your blue lip gloss is killer!"

K-RAD
Very radical.

Kwol/Kewl
adj. alternate spelling and pronunciation of cool. Describes someone or something that is beyond cool

Lame
adj. 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?"

Like, oh my God!
excl. Wow. Unbelievable

Major
To stress something you say, immensely. "You are a major dipstick, Major!"

Make Me Barf
phrase. A way to signal disgust with a situation. Sometimes used as "Make me wanna barf." ie. "I just bought a new Englebert Humperdink album." "Oh, don't play it. That'll make me barf."

Mall chick
n. Girl who spends most of her time at the mall. Big meeting place of the 80's.

McFly
excl. Someone has just done something very stupid. ex: "Nice move McFly" origin is the 80's movie, Back to the Future.

Melvin
action Verb. To pull another person's underwear upwards in a jerking motion untill it wedges between ones butt-crack. This is done from behind the person in order to keep them defenseless.

Mint
adj. Excellent, memorable, "priceless. "How was your weekend?" "Mint, best yet!"

Nerd
1.n. Someone who is very smart and socially unacceptable. ie. "Bill Gates is one of the most successful nerds today. 2.n. Also the proper name of a tangy candy made by Wonka candies.

Networking
v. 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.

Nice Play Shakespeare
excl. That was a really stupid action.

No Way
1.excl. Not going to do that. "Do your homework!" "No Way!" 2.excl. Disbelief. "I got tickets to Duran Duran." "No Way!"

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 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.

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".

Phat
adj. 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
n. A 'wannabe' spin off

Preppie/preppy
n. 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
v. A term meaning "gotcha"! Psych was usually used after telling someone something not true.

Rad/radical
adj. If something is rad, it's not only attractive, it's attractive immensely.

Rap
v. Speaking or singing rhythmically over a beat in the background. One who raps is a rapper.

Rippen, Rips
adj. Something very cool. ie. "That Firebird ripps man"

Road pizza
n. Road kill. A dead animal on the road.

Rush/head rush
Big thrill. "That roller coaster was such a head rush"!

Schmooze
v. To kiss up to someone. Yuppies schmoozed their way to the top of their field.

Scumbag
n. An undesirable person.

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.

Smooth move, X-Lax
excl. That was a really stupid action.

Solid
n. Affirmative. ie. "So we're going at eight? "Yeah, solid."

Spazzing
v. Overly excited. An exaggeration of being excited.

Stellar
adj. very cool. ie. "Your blue lip gloss is stellar!"

Stoked
To be ready to do something.

Stud
n. 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.

Sucks
Disapproval of something or someone. "This sucks".

Take off
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.

The Joint
Very cool. Seems to be primarily an East Coast term, started by rappers. ie: "The Sugar Hill Gang is the joint!"

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".

Trippendicular
adj. Something that is totally amazing.

Tubular
Something that is cool. Something overwhelming. "Tubular, totally tubular."

UV
Ultraviolet rays. "I'm going to the beach to catch some UV's."

Val
abrv. Short for Valley Girl. ie. "I'm a Val, I know, but it's ok because I come from a real cool part of Encino."

Valley Girl
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. 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.

"Way","No Way"
An exchange between two people when one believes something the other does not. ie. "I saw your girlfriend with another guy" "No Way" "Way" "No Way" "Way"

Way Cool
adj. Very cool. ie. "The A-Team is way cool."

Whatever
excl. Universally used for anything that leaves even an ounce of doubt in your mind. Usually used in a condescending tone by a Valley Girl. ie. "So she said, 'I really like your purse' and I'm like 'Whatever!'"

Wicked
adj. Excellent or great. ie. "That movie was wicked"

Word
n. Word means "Yes, I agree with what you're saying, and will re-emphasize it." ie: Person 1: "That dweeb is grody to the max." Person 2, in agreement: "Word." Synonyms: "I know that's right," and "I heard that."

Yeah! That's the ticket"
phrase. That sounds correct. Usually an indication that an explanation was just created. Originated from Saturday Night Live sketch with Jon Lovitz who was a habitual liar in the sketch.

Yo
excl. A greeting. ie. "Yo homey, what's happening?"

Yuppie
n. 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.