A Complete Guide to the Slang Lingo of Generation X

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Understand the language and cultural legacy of Gen Xers

Co-authored by Dev Murphy, MA Reviewed by Anyah Le Gilmore-Jones

Last Updated: February 25, 2025 Fact Checked

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Gen X Slang Words

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Nicknames

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Phrases

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Gen X Slang Legacy

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Gen X Defined

That’s gnarly, dude! You probably know what this means, even in the year of our Lord 2024—Gen X may be known as the “forgotten generation,” but it’s hard to imagine words like “whatever” or “dude” ever falling into disuse. Still, we bet we can list a few Gen X slang terms you haven’t heard before! Check out our comprehensive list of the best Generation X slang words, nicknames, and phrases below.

Common Gen X Slang

“Take a chill pill!”
“That’s bogus!”
Whatever
Dude
Homeslice

Section 1 of 5:

Gen X Slang Words

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Try out these fun Gen X terms. Looking to add a few Gen X words to your everyday vocabulary? Spoiler: you probably already are! But check out this list of popular Gen X terms for any you may be missing….^{[1]
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- Bodacious:
- Bogus: used to describe something imaginary, phony, or untrue, with origins stemming from the early 1800s
- Crib: your home
- Diss: to dismiss or disrespect someone, originating from Black slang
- Dip: to leave a place
- Dope: awesome
- Fresh: great, cool
- Gnarly: used to describe something amazing, originating from surfing culture as a word to describe a challenging wave
- Trippin’: acting like a fool or being too excited or bothered
- To the max: to the extreme
- Literally: an adverb that adds emphasis or exaggeration
- Phat: pronounced “fat,” an acronym for “pretty, hot, and thick,” originating from hip-hop culture
- Wack: uncool, disappointing
- Wicked: awesome

Section 2 of 5:

Gen X Nicknames

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Refer to your buds by these fun Gen X nicknames. Gen X slang includes a number of fun ways to refer to other people, from the famous “dude” to the now-less-common “headbanger.” Try out some of these fun ’80s and ’90s nicknames:
- DINK: an acronym for “dual income, no kids,” used to describe a partner in a couple in which both people work and don’t have children
- Dude: a gender-neutral term for another person, originally used as slang for “a man” in the early 1900s
- Headbanger: someone who loves heavy metal music (the term has since morphed into “banger” and refers to a really good song)
- Homeskillet: your close friend or BFF
- Homeslice: see above
- Yuppie: a primarily derogatory word originating from an acronym for “young, urban professional,” used to describe young, ambitious, well-educated, and affluent city-dwellers

Section 3 of 5:

Gen X Slang Phrases

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Amp up your daily vocab with these rockin’ vintage phrases. Your transformation into a Gen X-er isn’t complete until you’ve added these classic phrases to your word bank. Check these out:
- “Cool beans” “Sounds good”
- “Don’t have a cow”: “Don’t overreact”
- “You dig it?”: “Do you understand?” or “Do you agree?”
- “Gag me”: an expression of disgust
- Going postal: expressing anger, originating from a series of incidents in the 1980s and ’90s in which American postal workers cracked and became violent
- “F*ckin’ A!”: short for “f*ckin’ amazing!”
- Psych someone out: to mess with someone’s head
- “As if!”: “Yeah, right!” popularized by Gen X darling Cher Horowitz in Clueless
- “Take a chill pill!”: “Relax!” or “You’re overreacting!”
- "Talk to the hand": "I'm not listening"
- ”That rocks!”: “That’s awesome!”
- “Whatever!”: a response that indicates indifference or disdain (basically the forgotten generation’s catchphrase)
- “Word”: “I get it,” “Understood”

Section 4 of 5:

Gen X Slang Legacy

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Many Gen X slang terms are still popular, but others have fizzled out. Some slang terms, like “dude” and “DINK,” are still going strong decades later, perhaps because they’re so relatable and still relevant, or they fill a need that isn't otherwise filled by another word.^{[2]
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Research source} But a number of slang terms have become less popular for various reasons—maybe they just didn’t catch on in the same way, they were overused, or, in some cases, words considered insensitive or inaccurate may have fallen into disuse.
- For instance, “gay” and “lame” are Gen X slang terms that were often used to refer to something uncool, but both have become less common in recent decades.
- On the other hand, the word DINK waned in popularity after the 1980s, but when the late 2000s Great Recession caused many young people to consider being DINKS to save money, the word took off again.

Section 5 of 5:

What is Generation X, anyway?

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Gen X is the generation born between the mid-1960s and 1980. Generation X followed the Baby Boomer generation and preceded the Millennial generation. Gen X is also sometimes called the “forgotten generation” or “middle child” generation because they’re smaller than the Baby Boomers and Millennials and often get lost in the mix.^{[3]
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- Generation Y—more popularly known as Millennials—describes people born between 1981 and 1996.
- Generation Z (aka Zoomers) describes people born between 1997 and 2012.
- Generation Alpha describes people born between 2010 and 2025.