Can you guess the meaning behind these old-school slang words?
How Many of These 13 Old-School Slang Words Do You Know?
Updated on May 14, 2025
My dogs are barking
This old-fashioned complaint about aching feet dates back to the days when the word dogs was used to refer to feet. The Free Dictionary says this slang phrase originated in Great Britain, but according to the podcast A Way with Words, the term was an American invention, credited to cartoonist Thomas “Tad” Dorgan. Incidentally, Dorgan is also credited with coining the term “hot dog,” as in your favorite ballpark treat.
Out to lunch
Have you ever tried talking to someone standing right next to you, only to realize they’ve totally checked out of the conversation? If so, you’ve been with someone who is out to lunch. Idioms Online says this slang term can mean anything from “inattentive” to “crazy or insane,” and the idiom has been used since the mid-1940s.
Having a gas
It’s Jan. 1, and your friends want to know what you did on New Year’s Eve. Was it spectacular? Were there fireworks? Did you have a gas? This old-school slang phrase means having a great time, maybe even obnoxiously so. The specific date of origin is murky, but you can find similar “gas” phrases in the writings of Charles Dickens, James Baldwin and even the Rolling Stones.
Cut a rug
Even Merriam-Webster isn’t quite certain when this delightfully descriptive phrase first came into play. It’s easy to imagine what it means though—dancing with great energy, speed and panache, so much so that you ruin the flooring. Perhaps your grandma learned to cut a rug before her wedding reception in the town’s old dance hall.
Cruisin’ for a bruisin’
Back in the 1950s, when teenagers drove up and down Main Street, aka “cruised,” for Friday-night fun, hot summer evenings were ripe with excitement. Maybe a scalawag stirred one too many pots or poked one too many bears. Whatever he was doing, he was cruisin’ for a bruisin’, which means he was seeking trouble.
Burning rubber
Have you ever been minding your own business on the highway when a flash of chrome whizzes past your side mirror? If the speedster had to navigate a tight curve or slam on the brakes, a distinct odor filled the air. (There’s nothing like the smell of burning rubber.) According to word origin site Writing Explained, burning rubber evolved from meaning speeding cars to simply “going fast.” This phrase became popular in the 1970s, when souped-up cars and racing movies were all the rage.
Ankle-biter
You’d be forgiven for thinking that ankle-biter refers only to a small dog or rodent. But perhaps the aggressive term’s larger meaning is intentional: According to Merriam-Webster, the phrase can also mean “a young child.” This vintage slang for both animals and kids makes sense, since they have a few things in common: Both need a lot of attention, have more bark than bite and wreak more havoc than their tiny bodies would indicate. The dictionary says this old-school slang word has been in use since 1840.
Have a cow
Having a cow, and its British counterpart having kittens, are virtually the same in the world of old-school slang, according to the writing website Grammarist.com—they’re used to describe someone who is overly anxious. While North Americans say Don’t have a cow! when someone seems angry or agitated, people in England say Don’t have kittens! So what’s with the animal-birth metaphors? The specific origin of these phrases is elusive, but Grammarist says both surfaced in the early 1900s.
Scrub
More than 25 years ago, American girl group TLC released “No Scrubs,” and the song was the lead single from their 1999 album FanMail. The trio crooned, “I don’t want no scrub / A scrub is a guy that can’t get no love from me,” and the lyrics have stuck. But what exactly is a scrub? And where did the TLC ladies dig up this term in the first place? Dictionary.com says scrub has been used since the 1500s to mean an “insignificant or contemptible person.”
Chrome-dome
Dictionary.com offers up two distinct definitions for this slang phrase: “a bald-headed person” and “an intellectual.” These days, calling someone a chrome-dome isn’t usually a compliment. Rather, it’s an insult with a side of imagery. The term first surfaced in the name of a 1960s U.S. Air Force mission: Operation Chrome Dome. According to Air & Space Magazine, B-52 bombers—which had shiny tops, as many jets do—rotated between flying routes over the Mediterranean and the Arctic. Language often evolves with time, and this picture-perfect phrase took a much lighter turn after the Cold War.
The royal shaft
Not every slang term’s origin is easily found. When it comes to dictionary inclusion, some of them get the royal shaft. And what exactly is the royal shaft? The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English says it is “monumental mistreatment.” Snubbed by your ex-best friend? She gave you the royal shaft. Ignored by the restaurant server while everyone else gets their food? Yeah, you got the royal shaft. The phrase first surfaced in 1974 in Mark Howard Medoff’s book When You Comin Back, Red Ryder? and it’s been used by mistreated folk in the United States ever since.
Stool-pigeon
Ever felt like there are spies in your midst? Call them out for the stool-pigeons they are! This old-school slang nickname refers to a spy or secret informer. Merriam-Webster says the term stool-pigeons was first used in 1826 and likely comes from the practice of luring wild birds by tying a tame pigeon to a stool. Have a little fun with it at the office by outing the gossipy stool-pigeon at the water cooler or that particularly talkative co-worker in the next cubicle.
Tell it to Sweeney
This vintage slang phrase is similar to “talk to the hand.” In 1927, a silent comedy film called Tell It to Sweeney featured the saying, but the phrase dates back even further. According to the Oklahoman newspaper, in 1918 a man named L.L. Sweeney was in charge of the Oklahoma City sewage system. The newfangled system had more than its fair share of backups. A city councilman grew tired of telling everyone how to file their complaints about the sewage problems, so he shortened his retort to a single phrase: Tell it to Sweeney.
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Sources:
- The Free Dictionary: “My dogs are barking”
- Merriam-Webster: “Cut a rug”
- Merriam-Webster: “Ankle-biter”
- A Way with Words Podcast: “My Dogs Are Barking”
- Idioms Online: “Out to lunch”
- Merriam-Webster: “Stool pigeon”
- Grammarist: “Have a cow”
- Dictionary.com: “Scrub”
- Dictionary.com: “Chrome-dome”
- One Word a Day: “It’s a gas!”
- The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English
- Smithsonian Magazine: “A Hard Day’s Night”
- When You Comin Back, Red Ryder?
- The Oklahoman: “The Archivist: Tell It to Sweeney”
