# Period slang you can put in a character's mouth. > 160 slang words from the 1700s to the 2000s, each quoted from the dated source that recorded it, with a scene for each era that opens in Plot. A hundred and sixty words from eight eras, each quoted from the dictionary, novel, magazine or journal that recorded it, and a short scene for each era that uses them the way dialogue does. [Choose an era](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang#workbench-title) Eight eras · the source behind each word 1. 1700s rum 1785 2. 1800s swag 1859 3. 1920s old sport 1925 4. 1930s the bulls 1930 5. 1940s bobby-soxer 1945 6. 1950s no sweat 1959 7. 1960s groovy 1967 8. 2000s bling bling 2000 Why the dates matter ## A period word earns its place when it was really said. Most slang lists online repeat each other without a date, so a 1940s word ends up in a 1920s speakeasy. Every word here comes with the line that records it, from a dictionary, novel, newspaper or magazine of its own decade. Read the word in its source, then in a scene. ## Words and scenes by era 1. [1700s London thieves' cant rumSee the words 1785](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1700s) 2. [1800s New York underworld swagSee the words 1859](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1800s) 3. [1920s The Jazz Age crowd old sportSee the words 1920–1925](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1920s) 4. [1930s Hardboiled detectives the bullsSee the words 1930](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1930s) 5. [1940s GIs and bobby-soxers bobby-soxerSee the words 1944–1946](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1940s) 6. [1950s St. Louis teenagers no sweatSee the words 1955–1959](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1950s) 7. [1960s Hippies and their parents groovySee the words 1961–1969](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/1960s) 8. [2000s Hip-hop and the internet bling blingSee the words 2000–2010](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/period-slang/2000s) Field notes ## Writing dialogue that sounds like its time - ### Date the word, not the feeling Check every period word against a source from the time, not a list that sounds old. A dictionary entry or a published novel tells you the word was in use by that year. It does not tell you when it started, so a word recorded in 1859 can belong to a character in 1850, and probably not one in 1750. - ### Use less than you found One period word every few lines is enough to place a scene. A speech packed with slang reads like a costume. Let ordinary words carry most of the dialogue and save the slang for the moments a character wants to sound like they belong. - ### Make the meaning clear from the scene A reader or an audience never gets a glossary. Put the word where the action explains it: the stolen hat on the table before anyone calls it a rum nab, the sack of silver before anyone says swag. If a word needs a footnote, the scene is not doing its job yet. - ### Slang says who belongs Grose and Matsell recorded cant: the private language of thieves, meant to keep outsiders out. A character who uses it is in the gang, and one who misses it is not. Use that. The 1920s words did the same for a young crowd, the 1930s ones for detectives and crooks, the 1940s ones for soldiers and the teenagers they left at home, and the 1950s and 1960s ones for teenagers keeping their parents out. The 2000s words came from rap and the internet, and spread as fast as both. - ### Where to find more Dictionaries of slang and cant from the period, novels and plays written at the time, newspapers, and court records all show how people talked. Prefer sources written in the era over histories written later, and keep a note of where each word came from so you can check it again. - ### Hear it before you keep it Read the scene aloud, or hold a table read. Period dialogue that looks right can sound stiff when spoken. Cut what an actor trips on, and keep the version you like as a save point before you try another. ## Already have a draft? Bring your Word document or screenplay into Plot and keep developing it with save points and alternate drafts. [Import a draft](https://app.inkwell.software/projects?action=import) ## Related writing resources - [From premise to pages](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/film-treatment) ### [Film treatments, from first idea to final scene.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/film-treatment) [Read an original film treatment, see how it becomes scenes, and develop your own story with an editable treatment template.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/film-treatment) [Read the guide](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/film-treatment) - [Follow the stories inside the story](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/subplots) ### [A, B & C plots. One story that holds together.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/subplots) [Follow three connected storylines through a complete 12-scene example. Compare a missing B story with a revision that earns its ending.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/subplots) [Read the guide](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/subplots) - [Keep what catches your attention](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/commonplace-book) ### [A commonplace book for a mind at work.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/commonplace-book) [A practical commonplace book example and template for quotations, observations and connections, with a simple way to find and use what you collect.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/commonplace-book) [Read the guide](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/commonplace-book) - [A conversation worth staying for](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/book-club-questions) ### [Book club questions worth talking about.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/book-club-questions) [Choose thoughtful book club questions and download a ready-to-use discussion agenda for fiction, nonfiction or memoir.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/book-club-questions) [Read the guide](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/book-club-questions) - [Monologues to perform](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/monologues) ### [Monologues you can learn tonight.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/monologues) [Free audition monologues for teens and adults, comic and dramatic, plus two Shakespeare speeches. Each says who is speaking, what they want and what to play.](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/monologues) [Read the guide](https://www.inkwell.software/resources/monologues) --- Canonical page: