The ABCs of American Slang: A-G

We’re breaking down the ABCs of American Slang, the most common slang words or phrases you’ll hear in the United States. Today, we’re focusing on letters A-G.

We asked our ISV Magazine Ambassadors and Correspondents to share with us some American slang. Today’s list comes from Srinivas (Sid) Thatham, ISV Ambassador who attends the University of Cincinnati.

Ace	Very good	He’s an ace archer.
Action	Excitement	Do you know where the action is in this town?
Airhead	Stupid Person	My sister’s boyfriend is a real airhead.
All wet	Completely Wrong	Your ideas about politics are all wet.
All-nighter	Studying all night	I almost fell asleep during the test after an all-nighter.
Ammo	Ammunition	The gun was useless after the killer ran out of ammo.
Antifreeze	Liquor	I really need some antifreeze in me on cold days like this.
Armpit	Undesirable place	This town is really an armpit.
Bad	Intense	What an awesome sunset.
Barf	Vomited	Wow, that was really a bad movie.
Bashed	Crushed	The boat was bashed beyond recognition.
Beat	Exhausted	After working all day I am really beat.
Beemer	BMW car	He just bought a new beemer to drive to work in.
Bench	Taken out of the game	He was benched during the basketball playoffs.
Bent	Angry	It’s OK. Don’t get so bent.
Bent out of shape	Become upset	Don’t get so bent out of shape.
Big gun	Huge biceps	The Rock has two big guns.
Big mouth	One who talks too much	Shut up! You really have a big mouth.
Big stink	Big issue	You made a big stink about the homework.
Bite it	Die	Slow down, you’re going to bite it in a car accident.
Blade	Knife	He carried a ten inch blade with him.
Blimp	Fat person	I sat next to a blimp on the plane.
Blow	Leave	I’m going to blow out of here now.
Blow	Lose	He blew all his money gambling.
Blow a fuse	Lose your temper	Hey, don’t blow a fuse.
Blow one’s cool	Lose your temper	Calm down. Don’t blow your cool.
Bonkers	Crazy	I think I am going bonkers.
Boo-Boo	Mistake	I made a boo-boo.
Break	Opportunity	A lucky break helped him get the job.
Break it up	Stop	Break it up, or I will call the police.
Bring down	Depressing	The news of the airplane crash was a bring-down.
Bummed	Depressed	I was really bummed after I heard the news.
Bummer	Bad Experience	My trip to New York was a bummer.
Bust	Failure	The whole idea was a bust.
Call	Predict	Good call about the weather.
Can	Bathroom	Do you know where the can is?
Catch some rays	Get some sunshine	I’m going to lie on the beach and catch some rays.
Catch some Z’s	Get some sleep	I need to catch some Z’s before I go on my trip.
Cheesy	Cheap	That is really a cheesy looking outfit.
Chicken	Coward	Don’t be a chicken.
Chintzy	Cheap	That really was a chintzy present you got him.
Chow down	Eat a lot	I need to find a place to chow down.
Clip	Cheat	Watch out or they will clip you at that bar.
Clunker	Old car	I can’t go on a date in that clunker.
Cold Fish	Dull	My date for the dance was a cold fish.
Collar	Arrest	I knew they would collar the robber sooner or later.
Come up for air	Take a break	He has to come up for air or he will die from exhaustion.
Con	Deceive	Don’t try to con me.
Cop	Stole	How did you get the road sign? I copped it.
Couch Potato	Lazy Person	He is a couch potato.
Cream	Beat	Our team creamed them badly.
Croak	Die	I feel like I am going to croak.
Cruise	Going very fast	The skier was cruising down the hill
Cushy	Easy	He has a really cushy job.
Cut	Dilute	Could you cut my whiskey with a little water?
Cut out	Leave	Lets get the bill and find out the damage.
Damage	Cost	Lets get the bill and find out the damage.
Dead	Quiet	This disco is really dead tonight.
Deck	Knocked down	He was decked in the fight.
Deep pockets	Good source of money	Her boyfriend has deep pockets.
Dicey	Chancy	Since the weather is a little dicey, I won’t go today.
Ditch	Leave	I’ll ditch my younger brother with my grandmother.
Do a snow job	Deceive	Don’t try to do a snow job on me.
Dope	Drug	There are a lot of dope dealers around here.
Dough	Money	I need some dough before I can go Christmas shopping.
Down	Drink quickly	Let’s go to a bar and down a few beers.
Drag	Boring	Doing homework on the weekend is a drag.
Dynamite	Powerful	This drink is really dynamite.
Easy Mark	Likely victims	You’re an easy mark because you carry cash.
Far-out	Great	This music is really far-out.
Fix	Dose of Drugs	The addict needs another fix.
Flaky	Unreliable	He is too flaky to do the work.
Flick	Movie	I haven’t seen a flick in a long time.
Flipped out	Lost control	He flipped out when he heard that his house was robbed.
Flip side	Other side	What kind of music do you have on the flip side of the tape?
Foxy	Sexy	She is a foxy lady.
Get with it	Hurry up	If you don’t get with it, we will never finish this work.
Gig	Job	I have a gig on Saturday night from 7:00 to 10:00.
Go	Try	Let me have a go at solving the problem.
Go bananas	Go crazy	I am going to go bananas if I don’t have a vacation soon.
Go down	Happening	What is going down?
Goof	Fool	I am really a goof at times.
Goof up	Make a serious mistake	I really goofed up when I painted my room green.
Grand	Thousand dollars	His salary is twenty grand.
Grass	Marijuana	Lots of students smoke grass in the dormitory.
Gravy	Easy Money	This job is pure gravy.
Gross-out	Disgusting Time	The party was a gross-out.
Grub	Food	Where is the best place to get some grub around here?