Don’t you just love reading a blog post that fires up your imagination and gets those word wheels turning in your brain? Back on May 7th I read Elle Hill’s missive, When Good Cliches Go Bad, on the use of language in novels. Including slang. Used well, slang can be a great way to world-build or nail characters… or not. Writers also run the risk of confusing the hell out of their readers by using slang badly.
My use of slang in fiction, and even nonfiction, is very limited. Call me a nervous writer, but when it comes to writing I play it safe. Yet my brain perks up when it comes to new words and phrases. From my toddler nieces to Court TV, from books to Twitter and blogs, my vocabulary is ever expanding. Below are some terms that aren’t listed in my beaten-up and beloved copy of “Slang and Its Analogues” by J.S. Farmer and W.E. Henley. 
Roach Coach: Taco vans or any motorized vehicle serving food.
Bingo Wings: Loose skin, arm waddle that jiggles when grandma raises her arm and yells “bingo.”
De-virginated: The new term for losing one’s virginity!
Stomach cough: Who knew our digestive systems could grow flem-hacking mini-lungs? It’s a belly cough that requires a missed day of pre-school.
Wally World: I must be the last person on the planet to realize Wally World is actually WALMART!
Lot Lizards: Truck stop hookers.
Ghetto dollar: Super worn-out, faded dollar bill that’s been in circulation years beyond the normal lifespan of a dollar bill.
Embiggen: Enlarge a photo.
There are loads more, some G-rated… others not so much. I’d love to know what informal language colors your world. So bring on the slang!
Roach coach
lol
thx for the comment!
Love your post! I had no idea what binfo wings are, but now it makes perfect sense
Oops, I meant bingo, not binfo, tee hee
Thanks, Mandi! I had fun wrting this one.
I had no idea what Wally World was either until my son told me the other day. Love the list!
Donna, feel free to add to the list. I love leanring new words and phrases.
The other day my grandson showed me something and I said “cool’. It didn’t take him long to correct me. The new words for cool are “dope” and “raw”. Two new words for your list.
Consider them added! Thanks!