Back in Ye Olde 90's we had totally tubular stuff like grunge music, boy bands, jelly shoes, and the commonly held delusion that it was the 1960's.
So ... pretty much exactly like now but with thinner eyebrows, crappy dial-up internet, and we still had Betty White.
The 90's may be gone and back again as far as fashion is concerned, but language hasn't exactly ridden that same wave.
Reddit user Enexprime asked:
"What are some 90s terms that are no longer used today?"
So let's talk about it. What don't you hear anymore? Have you found yourself comfort-watching Living Single and realizing Khadija sounds like an alien?
No? Just me?
Multiple Deaths Happening Here
"... NOT!!!!"
- chichi_benson
"I only ever hear Borats voice now when reading the word NOT"
- stephen_spielgirth
"Someone on here pointed out to me that the modern version of 'NOT!!!' is 'said no one ever.' "
"Which is fascinating since it shows how humor has evolved over the last 20-30 years."
- BW_Bird
"I mean… 'said no one ever' died out years ago too. It feels like memes had that phrase everywhere just yesterday."
- Anon419420
GiphyHow We Discuss The Highway
"Information superhighway."
- gingerbreadporter
"Surf the web"
- nevercontribute1
"Even the word “web” in reference to the internet has almost completely disappeared."
- thomthehipposlayer
"The bomb dot com."
- kramerica_intern
"When I was doing back end development for corporate websites back in the early 2000's, lots of enterprise developers were saying 'www' as 'dub dub dub.' lol"
- cardcomm
Okay Which Part Are We Talking To And Why?
"Talk to the hand."
- llcucf80
"Talk to the elbow because the hand ain't worth the extension."
- allanmonroe
"I always did 'Talk to the booty, cause the hand's off duty.' "
- Lwmons
"Talk to the hand cuz the face ain’t listening!"
- Ri-chanRenne
"Talk to the hand talk to the butt talk to the man from Pizza Hut."
- SirRemington159
"Radical" Used To Be A Good Thing
"I still say things are 'rad,' but I haven’t said 'radical' or heard the term 'radical' used in a 'that’s cool' context since like ‘95 or ‘96."
- ghosts-go-boo
"I use 'rad' frequently but I’ve found Northern California is hella welcome to all kinds of slang, man."
- beard_lover
"I only use 'radical' to describe political radicalism, but every time I do I always think of the group I'm talking about busting some phat moves at the skate park."
- MarvinLazer
"Yeah I only hear 'radical' brought up in history or math classes right now."
- KoopaTrooper5011
Posing As A Hater? Cringe.
"Being a 'poser' was THE worst insult where I grew up, people were often criticized for being too big for their boots and dressing like rock stars."
"Nowadays, with social media etc, everyone is invested in their own brand management and if you think it’s cringe, you’re a ‘hater.’ "
- AGuerillaGorilla
"20 years from now when someone asks this same question on this sub, I'm sure 'cringe' is gonna be one of the answers."
- dbigya00
"I still feel like poser is a pretty solid insult. It's all about the delivery, you gotta dress it up a bit."
- thedoomdevice
We're Deeply Uninformed
"My wife got made fun of by our friends kid for using the term 'word on the street.' "
"It really blew his mind when we told him we needed the '4-1-1' on why it’s not cool anymore."
- Treibemj
"People still say 'word on the street.' It Still shows up in new rap songs."
"That’s as close as I’m getting to the streets, but those young men seem like they know what they’re talking about."
- MrBurnz99
Guac Is Still Extra
"All that and a bag of chips!"
- Wishyouamerry
"I use that at Chipotle. Sometimes I get the "did you really just say that?" look."
- BitPoet
"My mom says a version of that to my cat because my cat gets so excited when I walk into a room."
"My mom's like, 'she's not all that and a bag of catnip!' "
- StarWars_Girl_
Timing Troubles
"Call me after 7 when it’s free."
- False-Boysenberry673
"Alright yo man, you’re wasting my minutes! I’ll call you at night."
- temp7412369
"Oh man this one really takes me back."
"When I was a kid and I wanted to play telephone with my friends and my mom always reminded me to call after 7."
- batyoung1
To Doy? Or Not To Doy?
"No Doy"
- XxBoognishxX
"I always loved that yelling DOY meant the same thing as yelling NO DOY."
"It is truly one of the great mysteries of the universe."
- JohnSnowsPump
"I had to say it to remember it. Lol"
- ironh19
"I discovered there’s a whole segment of the population that use 'Duh Doy' — which is an inferior usage of the term, in my opinion."
- kula_shakur
"I say doy but I spell it doi. wasn't alive in the 90s though"
- bebedumpling
Suffix Situations
"-meister"
- papachon
"I work with a guy who's last name is Burmeister, I always call him 'The Burr-meister' like a 90s surfer, it annoys him."
- careater
"Wait are we not saying that any more? Douchemeister."
- alexrt87
"Is there anything more 90s than the Stiffmeister?"
- Zal_17
"My best friend from high school in the early 2000s is still 'Bakermeister' in my phone lol"
- weissingaround1
Aight, fly honies and homies - yall heard Reddit. Now it's on you to tell us what's up.
Want to "know" more?
Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.
@drewfromtv/Threads
@WhiteHouse/X
@cleanpuppy/TikTok
@itsjasminew/TikTok
@ashleybenson/TikTok
@brittanyfurlan/TikTok
@alex_050873/TikTok
@fanksrachel/TikTok
@aioop6/TikTok
@kellyleecamillone/TikTok
@katieschuyler/TikTok
@nfltg_the_barbarian/TikTok
@pohv_0/TikTok