The 2000s had a lot of things that we probably want to forget, from low riding, weirdly cut jeans, to hair feathers, the twee aesthetic and pearlcore galore (okay, those last two weren’t so bad), that we sometimes close our eyes and wish the beginning of the decade had never happened. However, there’s a lot of relatively cool early 2000s slang that’s actually held up. We’re not saying you should go around using words like “biotch” on the regular, but many of these once-popular phrases could still be used today… if you really wanted to.
The most popular early 2000s slang
- Bling
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Meaning: Basically, shiny stuff on clothing — this could go anywhere from bejeweling, to jewelry in general! Bling is a simple way of saying that someone has an extensive amount of sparkle on their outfit.
- Crunk
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Meaning: Essentially synonymous to having a good time (See: “Let’s get crunk!”), which could mean anything between sober fun, or not sober fun.
- That’s hot
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Meaning: Usually used sarcastically, “that’s hot” is used as a satirical juxtaposition to someone doing something that absolutely isn’t hot.
- Trashed
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Meaning: Synonymous to “Crunk,” except definitely not sober.
- Word
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Meaning: “Word” indicates that something is either understood or appreciated. It could be used similarly to “okay,” or to “awesome,” depending on context.
- Biotch
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Meaning: A quirky take on b*tch. You might have seen this used in 13 Going On 30, one of the quintessential 2000s films.
- Owned
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Meaning: Something people would say when they felt like they accomplished something over someone else, especially winning a game. Ex. “Yeah, dude I owned you at Mariokart!”
- You got served
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Meaning: Similar to “Owned”, but you basically say “served” instead. It’s like you serve them their own busted ego on a tarnished silver platter.
- Baller
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Meaning: Similar to “awesome,” “baller” was a way to describe things being cool and/or exciting in the early-mid 2000s.
- Stoked
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Meaning: Essentially a more relaxed version of being “ecstatic.” Being ecstatic about your birthday, for example, is different from being stoked about not having Geology homework.
- Peace out
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Meaning: A fun substitute for “goodbye.” Extra points if you make a peace sign with your hand as you say it.
- Bounce
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Meaning: A substitute for “leaving” a place or a situation. Ex. “Let’s bounce” rather than “Let’s blow this popsicle stand.”
- Dawg
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Meaning: A way to describe another person that you felt pleasantly towards. Ex. “What’s up, dawg?
- Poppin’
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Meaning: Cool. See “Lip Gloss” by Lil Mama.
- Waz crackin’
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Meaning: An opening statement to conversation, such as, “How are you doing?” except so very much worse.
- Sucky
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Meaning: A sort of grotesque reaction to something that is bad at a relatively mediocre level.
- Homeskillet
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Meaning: Another friendly term for another person. Ex. “Wassup, homeskillet?” Synonymous with “Homeslice.”
- Mega
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Meaning: Similar to “cool,” “mega” is a way to describe something radical or awesome.
- Chillax
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Meaning: To both “chill” and “relax” at the same time. It’s redundant because the two words have extremely similar connotations, but still extremely fun to say.
- Booyah
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Meaning: An exclamation of excitement, this term could be compared to “Holla” or “Eureka.” It should live on in infamy.
- Fetch
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Meaning: Very cool or fashionable, first popularized by Mean Girls. Yes, we are trying to make it happen.
- ‘Rents
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Meaning: A shorter and cuter way to say “parents.” Try this one if you’re close with your family and see how they react.
- Newbie
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Meaning: Someone who’s, well, new at doing something, and maybe a bit naive. See also: “Noob.”
- Peeps
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Meaning: Short for “people,” your peeps are your ride-or-dies. Peeps walked so “besties” could run.
- Sweet
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Meaning: Not just a taste descriptor! “Sweet” is yet another way to exclaim happiness, especially when you just got good news. Ex. “I just found $20 on the ground! Sweet!”
- Fo shizzle
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Meaning: “For sure.” (Thank you, Snoop Dogg.) Maybe we don’t need this one in our regular lexicon, but hey, you know you want to use it ironically sometimes.
- Take a chill pill
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Meaning: Oh my god, relax! Often used in a passive-aggressive sense, it’s meant to sarcastically calm down someone who’s stressing you out with their nervous or angry energy.
- Talk to the hand
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Meaning: Usually accompanied by flipping your hand out at someone, this is a more clever way to say that you’re over the conversation and won’t be dealing with it any longer. Period.
- Sketchy
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Meaning: Not trustworthy. Your crush only texts you back at 3 a.m.? That’s sketchy.
- Holla
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Meaning: Holler. This can be used on its own as a way to signal your excitement about something (see also: Booyah), but “holla at me” means you want someone to give you a call. I know, almost none of us talk on the phone instead of texting these days, but I bet you miss Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl.”