Words your characters would say
2000s slang from hip-hop and the internet
Twenty 2000s slang words from Vibe’s slang columns and the American Dialect Society, and oaths like hell yeah, each explained, with a mall scene for Plot.
bling bling
Flashy jewelry, diamonds above all.
Hip-hop and the internet
The words
In April 2000 Vibe asked Cash Money's rappers to define their own words, and kept a slang column through the decade, while the American Dialect Society voted each year on the word that defined it.
- bling blingBLING BLING: “Ice [diamonds]! The whole world knows ‘Bling Bling.’” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- Flashy jewelry, diamonds above all.
- high beamin'“When we put our ice on, we be blinding you like high beams.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- Wearing so much ice it blinds people like headlights.
- slugged upSLUGGED UP: “Mouth full of gold, full of ice.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- A mouth full of gold and diamonds.
- twankiesTWANKIES: “Dubs, 20-inch rims.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- Twenty-inch rims.
- gorgeorificGORGEORIFIC: “Got it goin’ on.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- Gorgeous; got it going on.
- a stunnaSTUNNA: “He wanna be seen and heard! … All eyes on me!” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- Someone who dresses to be seen and heard.
- cousin“We [feel] related to everybody now, so we call everybody cousin or nephew.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- Anybody you're tight with, related or not.
- act a donkeyACT A DONKEY: “That just means you’re gonna act like an ass.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, April 2000)2000
- To act like a fool.
- oneONE \wen\ interj., n.: a farewell, like “peace.” (Vibe, Slanguistics, December 2000)2000
- Goodbye, like “peace.”
- a mugglemuggle, Harry Potter term for a non-wizard; a mundane, unimaginative person. (American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2000, 2001)2001
- A dull, ordinary person (from Harry Potter).
- it's a wrapIT’S A WRAP: to be finished. … frequently utilized to dismiss people. (Vibe, Slanguistics, March 2002)2002
- It's over; also a way to dismiss someone.
- to googlegoogle (verb), as in “to google someone,” to search the Web using the search engine Google … (American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2002, 2003)2003
- To look someone or something up online.
- gankGANK: verb. To steal. (Vibe, Slanguistics, December 2002)2002
- To steal.
- badoonka donkBADOONKA DONK (also gadonka donk): n. A voluptuous derriere. (Vibe, Slanguistics, June 2003)2003
- A big, shapely backside.
- a metrosexualmetrosexual, fashion-conscious heterosexual male. (American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2003, 2004)2004
- A straight man who cares a lot about his looks.
- jump the couchjump the couch, to exhibit frenetic behavior like Cruise’s couch-bouncing on Oprah Winfrey’s talk show. (American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2005, 2006)2006
- To act frantically, after Tom Cruise on Oprah's couch.
- draped upDraped up: v. To wear expensive or flashy jewelry or clothing. (Vibe, Slanguistics, December 2005)2005
- Dressed in expensive or flashy jewelry and clothes.
- plutoedto be plutoed, to pluto, to be demoted or devalued. (American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2006, 2007)2007
- Demoted, like Pluto in 2006.
- go dumbGo dumb: v. Bay Area term for acting disorderly in a public area or party setting. (Vibe, Slanguistics, June 2006)2006
- To act wild in public or at a party (Bay Area).
- failfail A noun or interjection used when something is egregiously unsuccessful. Usually written as “FAIL!” (American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2009, 2010)2010
- A total failure; said when something flops.
Swear words and oaths
How people cursed, and the softer words they said instead, from the same dated sources.
- what the hellYuck! What the hell happened? What did she have on? (A reader’s letter, Vibe, April 2000)2000
- Disgusted disbelief: what on earth.
- hell yeahWorthwhile? Hell yeah! (Summer movie preview, Vibe, June 2003)2003
- Emphatically yes.
- about damn timeIt’s about damn time! I was ecstatic to see Lil Wayne on the cover of VIBE. (A reader’s letter, Vibe, June 2006)2006
- Finally, and long overdue.
INT. LAKESIDE MALL FOOD COURT, METAIRIE - DAY (2006)
Saturday crowd. DRE (17), white tee and a chain he can't afford, waits by the pretzel stand. His cousin TASHA (17) arrives with a shopping bag and a flip phone.
TASHA
Look at you, cousin. All that bling bling, high beamin' at the pretzel line.
DRE
Got to be a stunna. Marcus is coming through with the new twankies.
TASHA
Marcus got plutoed off the team. Coach caught him acting a donkey at practice.
DRE
Fail. Who told you?
TASHA
I googled him. Then I asked his girl. She's gorgeorific, by the way. Too good for him.
Dre checks his reflection in the Orange Julius sign.
DRE
I'm draped up for nothing, then.
TASHA
Don't jump the couch about it. It's a wrap. One.
She walks off. Dre unhooks the chain and puts it in his pocket.
Recorded in
- Vibe, Slanguistics (April 2000)
- A reader’s letter, Vibe (April 2000)
- Vibe, Slanguistics (December 2000)
- American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2000 (2001)
- Vibe, Slanguistics (March 2002)
- Vibe, Slanguistics (December 2002)
- American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2002 (2003)
- Vibe, Slanguistics (June 2003)
- Summer movie preview, Vibe (June 2003)
- American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2003 (2004)
- Vibe, Slanguistics (December 2005)
- American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2005 (2006)
- Vibe, Slanguistics (June 2006)
- A reader’s letter, Vibe (June 2006)
- American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2006 (2007)
- American Dialect Society, Words of the Year 2009 (2010)
2000s technology and props
What had just arrived, what was still recent, and what a scene set in these years can't have yet. Each entry names the source that records its date, with a link to it. Dates are for the United States unless an entry says otherwise.
Before 2000
Already there, still recent
When it was new
When it was new
- 1971
Phones
Home answering machine
The PhoneMate 400 brings the answering machine into the home, recording messages on tape.
IEEE Spectrum, The Consumer Electronics Hall of Fame: PhoneMate 400
Before the 1970s answering machines are rare, expensive and mostly in offices, so a call nobody picks up at home is usually missed, unless an answering service takes a message.
- 1977
Screens and sound
VCR
The first VHS videocassette recorders go on sale in the United States.
CED Magic, 1977: The First VHS VCR Is Introduced in the U.S.
Taping a show or renting a movie to watch at home is mostly a late 1970s and 1980s scene. Home recorders existed before that, such as Betamax from 1975, but they were rare and costly, so a show a character missed was usually gone.
- 1980
Screens and sound
Walkman
Sony's Walkman reaches the United States, a year after its launch in Japan.
A Walkman, or any cassette heard in stereo headphones on the move, is the 1980s. Before it, music on the move is a transistor radio, played out loud or through a single earphone.
- 1983
Screens and sound
Compact disc
Compact discs reach American stores.
Early 1980s music is records and cassettes. A CD collection is a mid-1980s status symbol before it becomes ordinary.
- 1983
Phones
Cell phone
The first commercial cell phone service in the United States opens in Chicago, with the Motorola DynaTAC.
A 1980s cell phone is rare, heavy and expensive, so it says money or a job that demands one. Most characters call from home, an office or a pay phone.
- 1984
Getting around
Seat-belt law
New York passes the first state law requiring people to wear seat belts.
Before laws like this one, riding without a seat belt was ordinary, and nobody in the car would remark on it.
- 1987
Phones
Caller ID
Caller ID is tested on telephone lines in New Jersey.
The Christian Science Monitor, Call identification feature sparks invasion-of-privacy charges (1987)
A ringing phone in the 1980s is a mystery until someone answers. Characters screen calls by letting the answering machine pick up.
- 1987
Police
DNA evidence
A Florida court convicts Tommie Lee Andrews after DNA tests match him, the first conviction of its kind in the United States.
A case set before the late 1980s is solved without DNA: fingerprints, blood type, witnesses and confessions carry it.
- 1992
Phones
Text message
The first text message, "Merry Christmas", is sent over Vodafone's network in Britain.
Vodafone UK, Merry Christmas: the 30th anniversary of the first text message
A 1980s or early 1990s character leaves a message, a note or a page. Texting belongs to the late 1990s and 2000s.
- 1993
Screens and sound
Web browser
NCSA's Mosaic browser brings the World Wide Web to ordinary desktops. By December it is downloaded more than 5,000 times a month.
National Center for Supercomputing Applications, NCSA Mosaic
A character before the mid-1990s looks things up in a library or an encyclopedia; the few who go online use services like CompuServe or a local bulletin board, not the web. Into the late 1990s, getting online means a dial-up modem that ties up the phone line.
- 1998
Screens and sound
Google
Larry Page and Sergey Brin found Google Inc. to run their search engine.
A 1990s character searching the web uses Yahoo or AltaVista. Nobody says they'll google something until the 2000s.
2000–09
Arriving in these years
On the page
On the page
- 2001
Screens and sound
iPod
Apple's iPod goes on sale on November 10, at $399.
Before late 2001, music on the move mostly comes from a Walkman, a Discman or the car radio; the few MP3 players sold since 1998 hold far fewer songs. White earbuds become a mark of the mid-2000s.
- 2001
Getting around
TSA airport screening
After the September 11 attacks, Congress creates the Transportation Security Administration on November 19 to screen airline passengers.
Before September 2001, friends and family walk a traveler to the gate without a ticket. After it, only passengers get past a slower, federal checkpoint.
- 2006
Screens and sound
Facebook for everyone
Facebook, until then for students and some workplaces, opens on September 26 to anyone with an email address.
Before late 2006 Facebook takes only people with a school or approved workplace email, so a character outside both can't sign up. Friends keep up by email, instant messenger or MySpace.
- 2007
Phones
iPhone
Apple's iPhone goes on sale in the United States on June 29.
Apple Newsroom, iPhone Premieres This Friday Night at Apple Retail Stores (2007)
An iPhone in a scene set before mid-2007 is an anachronism. Most phones before it have keypads, many flip open, and the few with touchscreens are worked with a stylus.
- 2008
Phones
App Store
Apple's App Store opens with more than 500 apps on July 10, a day before the iPhone 3G goes on sale.
Before mid-2008 nobody opens an App Store on an iPhone. Some phones can download games and ringtones from the carrier or maker, but most do only what they shipped with.
After 2009
Not yet: keep these out of the scene
On the page
On the page
- 2010
Screens and sound
iPad
Apple's iPad goes on sale in the United States on April 3, from $499.
Until spring 2010 a character reads on paper, a laptop, a phone screen or, from late 2007, an e-reader like the Kindle. An iPad in a 2000s scene is an anachronism.
Check a whole script for anachronisms
Inkwell's Period Language skill reads your pages against the era you set. It flags words, objects and references that hadn't arrived yet and offers period alternatives as changes you can accept or skip.
Make it yours in Plot
Start with this example or bring your own draft. Develop the story, try another version, and keep the work you want.
Opens as a new Plot project once you sign in or create a free account. Inkwell keeps this copy for 24 hours.
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.
Related writing resources
From premise to pages
Film treatments, from first idea to final scene.
Read an original film treatment, see how it becomes scenes, and develop your own story with an editable treatment template.
Read the guideFollow the stories inside the story
A, B & C plots. One story that holds together.
Follow three connected storylines through a complete 12-scene example. Compare a missing B story with a revision that earns its ending.
Read the guideKeep what catches your attention
A commonplace book for a mind at work.
A practical commonplace book example and template for quotations, observations and connections, with a simple way to find and use what you collect.
Read the guideA conversation worth staying for
Book club questions worth talking about.
Choose thoughtful book club questions and download a ready-to-use discussion agenda for fiction, nonfiction or memoir.
Read the guideMonologues to perform
Monologues you can learn tonight.
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.
Read the guide