Television

Your Favorite Slang Phrase Probably Came From The 90’s

You may or may not know it but, the 90’s are responsible for a lot of your favorite slang phrases that you use every day. I've often heard phrases like "Bye Felicia," "WHAT-EVERRR" and "Talk to the hand" from people of all ages. I asked my daughter the other day about a few of them and she had no idea where they came from. The answer might surprise you. The short answer is: The 90's. Of course, not ALL slang came from the 90's, just the best slang! If it wasn't born there, it was definitely made popular there. "WHAT-EVERRR," "As if" and "buggin'" were all prevalent in the 90's movie, "Clueless." While they weren't exactly introduced there, the movie brought them into our everyday vocabulary. Sometimes, music is responsible for slang. While using the information phone umber, 411, to reference information or gossip was first done by Aretha Franklin in a 1982 song called "Jump to it," Mary J. Blige popularized it in 1992 with her hit "What's the 411?" ...by the way, we used to call 411 on the phone to look for phone numbers. Weird, right? The 90's gave us PHAT. Yes, PHAT, not fat. Some younger people may be saying something's PHAT without even knowing the proper spelling, which gives us its meaning. PHAT is an acronym: Pretty Hot And Tempting. "Girrrrrl, you are PHAT!" will probably get you slapped in 2024. In the 90's, it was a compliment. The list goes on and on. "Duh" or "no duh," "snap," and "sup" all came from the 90's. But, there are a few very popular phrases that come directly from 90's movies and TV shows. If you're like me, you enjoy finding out where this phrase you've used for most of your life comes from. The following are five of the most popular phrases we still use today and the movie or show that they come from, with videos for reference. Enjoy!