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INTERACTIVE STUDY DECK · AUDIO + FLIP CARDS

Slang Flashcards.

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Study 100% classroom-safe (SFW) conversational English cards right in your browser. Click 🔊 Listen to hear the spoken pronunciation, or click Reveal Meaning & Example to flip each card.

Core ESL & Everyday Slang (SFW) (18) British & Irish Regional English (93) Workplace, Digital & Media Literacy (76) Group-Chat & Texting Shorthand (18) Download Anki / Quizlet .TSV ↗
CARD 01 · OnlineCritical · derogatory

AI slop ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Low-quality AI-generated material, especially output produced in volume with little concern for accuracy, coherence, or usefulness.

Register: Critical · derogatory · Full entry & examples →

CARD 02 · OnlinePlatform culture · descriptive

algospeak ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Altered words, spellings, euphemisms, or symbols people use because they believe platform algorithms may restrict the original wording.

Register: Platform culture · descriptive · Full entry & examples →

CARD 03 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

anxious attachment ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A relationship pattern marked by hyper-vigilance toward text reply times, fear of abandonment, and frequent need for reassurance.

Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →

CARD 04 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

astroturfing ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Coordinated marketing or campaigning disguised as spontaneous grassroots enthusiasm from ordinary internet users.

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CARD 05 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

avoidant attachment ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A relationship pattern where closeness triggers a need for distance, slow replies, and emotional self-sufficiency.

Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →

CARD 06 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

Bare Minimum Monday ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Starting the workweek at a deliberate, low-pressure pace to prevent Sunday-night anxiety and mid-week burnout.

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CARD 07 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

beige flag ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: An odd, quirky, or mildly boring habit in a partner or dating profile that is neither a toxic red flag nor a green flag.

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CARD 08 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

benching ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Keeping a romantic prospect on standby with occasional friendly texts while actively dating other people.

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CARD 09 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

bossware ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Employee-monitoring software that tracks mouse movements, keystrokes, or active status dots on remote workers’ laptops.

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CARD 10 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

breadcrumbing ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Sending sporadic, non-committal messages or likes just often enough to keep someone emotionally invested without intending a relationship.

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CARD 11 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

cancel culture ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Collective social withdrawal of support from a public figure or brand following an offensive statement or boundary violation.

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CARD 12 · OnlineStorytelling metaphor · often ironic

canon event ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A formative experience jokingly treated as an unavoidable part of someone’s personal storyline, often embarrassing or difficult.

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CARD 13 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

career cushioning ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Quietly updating a resume, networking, and lining up freelance options while still employed in case of sudden layoffs.

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CARD 14 · OnlineCritical or self-mocking

chronically online ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: So immersed in internet culture or disputes that your references, assumptions, or priorities seem disconnected from ordinary offline experience.

Register: Critical or self-mocking · Full entry & examples →

CARD 15 · Onlinecontext-dependent

cleanfluencer ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: cleanfluencer: home‑cleaning online influencer.

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CARD 16 · OnlineCritical · publishing language

clickbait ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A headline, thumbnail, or piece of content built to win clicks, often by withholding the point, exaggerating, or misleading.

Register: Critical · publishing language · Full entry & examples →

CARD 17 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

code-switching ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Shifting between linguistic registers, dialects, or sociolects depending on the social group, setting, or power dynamic.

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CARD 18 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

coffee badging ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Swiping into the office just long enough to grab coffee and be seen by management before heading home to finish work remotely.

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CARD 19 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

context collapse ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: When multiple distinct audiences—such as family, coworkers, and close friends—simultaneously see a message meant for one group.

Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →

CARD 20 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

cushioning ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Maintaining flirty text threads with backup crushes to soften the blow in case a primary relationship ends.

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CARD 21 · OnlineTheory / meme · not established fact

dead internet theory ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: The idea that much online activity is automated or artificial rather than human; stronger versions make unsupported claims that most of the internet is fake.

Register: Theory / meme · not established fact · Full entry & examples →

CARD 22 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

dog whistle ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Coded phrasing that sounds ordinary to a general audience while carrying a targeted secondary signal to a specific subgroup.

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CARD 23 · OnlineInformal · digital habits

doomscrolling ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Continuing to scroll through distressing news or negative posts, often longer than you intended.

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CARD 24 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

echo chamber ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A closed social or algorithmic environment where participants encounter only beliefs and slang that reinforce their existing views.

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CARD 25 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

emotional labor ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Managing one’s own feelings and tone to keep customers, coworkers, or partners comfortable and regulated.

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CARD 26 · Onlineinformal

finfluencer ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: finfluencer: influencer who gives advice on financial investments.

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CARD 27 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

future faking ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Making grand promises about future trips, milestones, or commitment early in dating to create instant intimacy without follow-through.

Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →

CARD 28 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

gaslighting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Manipulating someone into doubting their own memory, perception, or sanity—though often used loosely online to mean any disagreement.

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CARD 29 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

gatekeeping ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Controlling or restricting who is allowed to claim membership, authenticity, or status within a subculture or hobby.

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CARD 30 · OnlineInformal · relationships and contact

ghosting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Ending or abandoning an ongoing connection by stopping communication without an explanation.

Register: Informal · relationships and contact · Full entry & examples →

CARD 31 · OnlineApproving · reassuring

green flag ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: An encouraging sign that someone or something may be trustworthy, compatible, or worth pursuing.

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CARD 32 · Onlinecontext-dependent

hallucination ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: hallucination: confident but incorrect AI response.

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CARD 33 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

hard launch ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Announcing a new romantic partner unmistakably on social media with a clear, full-face photo and tagged profile.

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CARD 34 · Onlinecontext-dependent

haunting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: haunting: hard to forget, staying in the mind.

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CARD 35 · OnlineInformal aversion

ick ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A feeling or expression of disgust or aversion. “The ick” can describe a reaction that makes someone suddenly feel put off.

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CARD 36 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

imposter syndrome ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Persistent internal doubt that one’s achievements are undeserved and that colleagues will eventually expose one as a fraud.

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CARD 37 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

in-group ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A social circle or subculture whose members share identity markers, insider vocabulary, and mutual recognition.

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CARD 38 · OnlineStorytelling · often playful

lore ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: The background story and accumulated details of a fictional world, community, or person. A “lore drop” reveals a new piece of that backstory.

Register: Storytelling · often playful · Full entry & examples →

CARD 39 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

loud quitting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Openly voicing dissatisfaction with company leadership or resigning publicly on social platforms rather than leaving quietly.

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CARD 40 · Onlinecontext-dependent

love bombing ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: love bombing: manipulative over‑affection tactic.

Register: context-dependent · Full entry & examples →

CARD 41 · OnlineAdmiring or critical

main character energy ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A confident, cinematic sense of being the protagonist of the moment; sometimes a criticism of acting as if everyone else is a supporting character.

Register: Admiring or critical · Full entry & examples →

CARD 42 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

masking ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Consciously suppressing natural reactions or exhaustion in order to appear calm, outgoing, and socially conventional.

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CARD 43 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

moral panic ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Widespread public anxiety that a new youth subculture, slang register, or media trend threatens social order.

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CARD 44 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

mouse jiggler ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A tiny hardware plug or script that moves a cursor slightly so a remote worker’s chat status stays green while away.

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CARD 45 · Onlineinformal

orbiting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: orbiting: stopping direct contact while still watching or interacting online.

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CARD 46 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

people pleasing ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Habitually prioritizing others’ comfort and agreement over one’s own boundaries to avoid conflict or disapproval.

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CARD 47 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

pocket watching ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Obsessively monitoring or speculating about how much money another person makes or how they afford their lifestyle.

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CARD 48 · OnlineAffectionate, cutesy or playful

pookie ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: An affectionate name for a loved person, such as a partner, friend or relative; as an address, roughly sweetheart or darling.

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CARD 49 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

quiet cutting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Reassigning employees to lower-status roles or Eliminating their projects so they resign voluntarily without severance.

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CARD 50 · Onlinecontext-dependent

quiet firing ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: quiet firing: act of neglect that pushes employees to quit.

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CARD 51 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

quiet quitting ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Performing the exact duties specified in one’s job description during paid hours while declining unpaid overtime or hustle culture.

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CARD 52 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

rage applying ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Sending out dozens of job applications in a single burst of frustration after being passed over or micromanaged at work.

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CARD 53 · OnlineCritical · media language

rage bait ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Content designed to provoke anger so people will react, argue, share, or keep watching.

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CARD 54 · OnlineCombative · platform-dependent

ratio ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A social-media response showing stronger pushback than approval, or a reply that gets more support than the post it challenges.

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CARD 55 · OnlineWarning · sometimes exaggerated

red flag ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A warning sign that something may be wrong or deserves closer attention, especially in a relationship or decision.

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CARD 56 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

rejection sensitivity ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Intense emotional distress triggered by perceived criticism, delayed text replies, or subtle shifts in conversational tone.

Register: informal conversational · Full entry & examples →

CARD 57 · OnlineTeasing · sometimes dismissive

rent-free ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Occupying someone’s thoughts without effort or invitation, usually in “living rent-free in my head.” It can describe delight, annoyance, or fixation.

Register: Teasing · sometimes dismissive · Full entry & examples →

CARD 58 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

resenteeism ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Staying in an unsatisfying job out of financial necessity while feeling openly bitter and disengaged every day.

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CARD 59 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

revenge bedtime procrastination ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Staying up late scrolling or gaming to reclaim personal leisure hours after an exhausting, overscheduled workday.

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CARD 60 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

roster ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A rotation of several casual dating prospects someone texts or sees simultaneously before choosing to commit to one.

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CARD 61 · OnlineEmerging · informal

scroll fatigue ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A feeling of being mentally worn out by prolonged scrolling through feeds or other online material.

Register: Emerging · informal · Full entry & examples →

CARD 62 · OnlinePlayful · gaming metaphor

side quest ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: An optional detour from the main objective in a game, or a spontaneous little adventure away from your original plan in everyday life.

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CARD 63 · OnlineInformal · dating language

situationship ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A romantic connection whose status, expectations, or commitment have not been clearly defined.

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CARD 64 · OnlineSocial media · indirect reveal

soft launch ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Hinting at a romantic relationship online without clearly identifying the partner or explicitly announcing the relationship.

Register: Social media · indirect reveal · Full entry & examples →

CARD 65 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

stonewalling ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Shutting down a conversation by refusing to reply, giving one-word answers, or withdrawing completely during a disagreement.

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CARD 66 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

talking stage ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: The early phase of romantic interest where two people text daily and hang out casually before defining exclusivity.

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CARD 67 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

task masking ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Typing loudly, carrying a laptop briskly, or keeping spreadsheets open to look intensely busy in an open-plan office.

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CARD 68 · OnlineEmerging · critical

tasteslop ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A critical label for AI-generated style or lifestyle content that appears tasteful and curated but feels generic, derivative, or empty.

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CARD 69 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

third place ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: A social space outside home and work—such as a pub, cafe, or Discord server—where informal community life happens.

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CARD 70 · OnlineTeasing · often dismissive

touch grass ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Step away from the internet and regain some real-world perspective. Often a dismissive response to an overly online argument.

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CARD 71 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

trauma dumping ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Sharing intense, unprocessed personal distress with an unprepared acquaintance or public chat without checking their capacity first.

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CARD 72 · OnlineTechnical culture · debated scope

vibe coding ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Building software by repeatedly prompting an AI and reacting to the result, especially when the person pays little attention to the underlying code.

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CARD 73 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

virtue signaling ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Publicly expressing an approved opinion primarily to demonstrate moral alignment and earn social status within a peer group.

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CARD 74 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

voluntold ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Being assigned an extra task or committee under the polite illusion that you volunteered for it voluntarily.

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CARD 75 · US/UK/IE/Onlineinformal conversational

weaponized incompetence ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: Pretending to be bad at a household or workplace task so that someone else gets frustrated and takes over the responsibility.

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CARD 76 · US/UK/Onlineinformal conversational

zombieing ↗

Flip Card: Meaning & Tone ↻

Plain English: When someone who ghosted months ago suddenly resurfaces in your DMs or story replies acting as if nothing happened.

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