10 slang words from the ’90s that used to be cool but aren’t anymore
We have already covered the slang of the ’70s and the ’80s. The ’90s chapter hits harder. This was the decade of dial-up internet, frosted tips, and a linguistic identity built on hip-hop, MTV, and films like Clueless and Wayne’s World.
The language felt urgent and alive at the time. It spread through school hallways and Saturday-morning cartoons rather than social media, giving it a texture that modern slang rarely achieves. It also had an expiration date nobody saw coming.
Here are ten words that once made you sound cool and would now make people slowly back away.
Image Credit: Paramount Pictures. / IMDb
As if
Clueless did not invent “as if,” but Alicia Silverstone’s 1995 performance as Cher Horowitz made it a cultural institution. A two-syllable dismissal, best deployed with a hair flip.
Image Credit: FG Trade/istockphoto.
Talk to the hand
The full version was “talk to the hand, because the face ain’t listening,” delivered palm-first. It peaked mid-decade and earned a spot on Lake Superior State University’s Banished Words List. Using it now would require explaining both the phrase and the gesture.
Image Credit: NYC Jazz Fan / Wikimedia Commons.
Da bomb
Something was not merely good, it was da bomb. The phrase had jazz slang roots but went mainstream in the 90s. It was retired around the moment Kriss Kross stopped wearing their clothes backwards, and nobody filed a missing persons report.
Image Credit: Lay’s.
All that
To be all that was to be the complete package. The fuller version, “all that and a bag of chips,” added emphasis via snack food. The American Dialect Society noted it as a standout expression of the era.
Close up of old English dictionary page with word slang
Phat
Phat was rooted in hip-hop culture and reached mainstream usage by 1992. It meant excellent. Rumors spread that it stood for “pretty hot and tempting,” but linguists found no evidence for it.
Image Credit: NBC/NBCUniversal/IMDb
Gettin’ jiggy with it
Will Smith’s 1997 Billboard hit gave the world this phrase. For two years it was unavoidable. For the thirty years since, hearing it produces an involuntary shudder.
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Not!
“Not!” became the American Dialect Society’s word of the year in 1992, courtesy of Wayne’s World. State something, then negate it at volume: “That haircut looks great. Not!” It suits a word whose only purpose is to undercut itself.
Image Credit: ESPN.
Booyah
The late ESPN anchor Stuart Scott made booyah the sound of a spectacular sports moment. It originated in West Coast hip-hop, where it mimicked a shotgun, but by the mid-90s it had been repurposed into a celebration noise safe for morning television. It eventually became a dad joke waiting to happen.
Image Credit: Depositphotos.com.
Fly
To be fly was to be stylish, effortlessly cool, and aware of it. The word came from African American Vernacular English and had been around for decades, but the 90s gave it its widest audience.
Image Credit: hoyaphoto / iStock.
Bling
Bling peaked in 1999 when rapper B.G. released “Bling Bling” and the Oxford English Dictionary drafted an entry. It described flashy jewelry worn with maximum visibility. By 2003, it was already ironic, and it has since been retired to footnotes.
Image Credit: MediaFeed / DALL·E 3.
Wrapping Up
If you grew up in the 90s, these words meant something. They just do not mean the same thing anymore, which is exactly how slang is supposed to work.
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Related:
- 10 baby boomer slang terms that will make anyone under 40 cringe today
- Popular (& sometimes really gross) slang throughout the years
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