Friday, June 25, 2010

Bitchin' 1980s Valley Girl Slang Words

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If you were a kid or parent back in the 1980s, you "fer shur" remember the Valley Girl phase. This awesome use of 1980s slang seemed to last a rather long time. The stereotype started in the upper-middle class area of the San Fernando Valley in California... don't worry, I'll spare you the history lesson and cut to the popular Valley Girl slang terms. Do you remember these 1980s Valley Girl phrases? Feel free to post any I've missed in the comments section.
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Valley Girl Glossary: 10 Valley Girl Words & Terms


  1. Awesome - great, fabulous. Still used today.
  2. Barf Me Out - usually said when something grossed you out. Not used much today.
  3. Bitchin' - awesome, great, very cool. Not used much today.
  4. Choice - described something awesome and seemed very Hollywood. Not used much today.
  5. Dweeb - a nerd, geek or loser. Not used much today, yet I can see my parents saying "dweeb"!
  6. Fresh - another word for cool or awesome. Not used much today.
  7. Gag me with a spoon - another term for gross me out or barf me out. Not used much today.
  8. Gnarly - also meant awesome. Ironically today kids use it to do describe something gross.
  9. Grody or Grody to the Max - Super gross and "to the max" meaning to the maximum point of grossness. Not used much today.
  10. Totally - used to emphasizing such as very. I still sometimes say this today.
Who could forget the pivotal 1983 Valley Girl movie that started the Valley Girl craze as well as Nicholas Cage's career? Bitchin' soundtrack too!

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41 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 12:34 AM

    I use "awesome" and "totally" a LOT!! lol

    Btw I’m having a blog hop over at my blog:
    http://www.nycislandgal.com/2010/06/im-so-following-you-back.html

    Come and leave your link so all my readers can follow you too!

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  2. JillJune 25, 2010 at 12:47 AM

    I completely forgot about Dweeb! Funny! I never realized how most of those terms revolve around grossness.

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  3. UnknownJune 25, 2010 at 12:58 AM

    Friend Friday visitor!

    AJ @ Simple Sweet Inspiration!

    This is TOTALLY AWESOME! Really groovy!

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  4. Riot KittyJune 25, 2010 at 1:02 AM

    That's funny - even at age 12 (in 1988) I hated that movie for how cheesy it was!

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  5. Sylvia PlathypusJune 25, 2010 at 1:44 AM

    LMAO Hubs and I had a good giggle on this one...you are awesome!! =) Though I have to say, I hear 'bitchin' used all the time these days...must be making a comeback like all those heinous clothes from the 80's. LOL

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  6. KristieJune 25, 2010 at 1:56 AM

    I like totally remember saying like totally tubular. lol
    No seriously, I remember saying things like, airhead and poser. I also remember saying, "No Duh"
    Oh and Fuck'n A.

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  7. Ms. AJune 25, 2010 at 2:06 AM

    Crap, you mean I'm not supposed to use these terms anymore? Why didn't somebody tell me?

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  8. MelissaJune 25, 2010 at 3:00 AM

    I beg to differ on "bitchin'"! Maybe it's just me and my friends, but we say that a whooole lot. Though I suppose we might be saying it a bit ironically. Hmmm.

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  9. AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 3:00 AM

    That was fresh! :D

    Nehha(India)

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  10. ISRAEL CARRASCOJune 25, 2010 at 3:04 AM

    She's a valley girl and there is no cure.

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  11. AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 5:47 AM

    I guess I use a few of these. My Mom uses most of them. Especially, "Dweeb"!

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  12. G. B. MillerJune 25, 2010 at 6:33 AM

    I never watched the movie, but rather enjoy the song by Frank Zappa.

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  13. mamahasspokenJune 25, 2010 at 7:13 AM

    I remember these mostly from the song too. I still use the word awesome but none of the others.

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  14. AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 7:36 AM

    I like that movie :-) I remember using grody at times. I still use the word dweeb or dweebie! It's hilarious!!!

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  15. baygirl32June 25, 2010 at 8:00 AM

    I am, like totally such a dweeb! I didn't know what grody meant. Ugh gag me with a spoon why don't ya?

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  16. CopyboyJune 25, 2010 at 8:06 AM

    You can probably thank Neil Patrick Harris (How I met Your Mother) for saving the AWESOME word. Incidentally there was also a show on CBS called Dweebs. Lasted only season. And it starred my favorite actor Peter Scolari.

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  17. Joe CapJune 25, 2010 at 9:14 AM

    I totally remember all this, fer shure!

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  18. MargieJune 25, 2010 at 9:18 AM

    Some of this is still part of my vernacular...and that's awesome.

    :)

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  19. saraJune 25, 2010 at 9:19 AM

    I admit it...I own that movie. It is frequently quoted among my sisters and I. I mean Tommy is bitchin' and everything...

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  20. GraceJune 25, 2010 at 9:26 AM

    As someone who was born in the San Fernando Valley, not only do I remember those words but I still use most of them on a daily basis. And so do my kids (my poor kids).

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  21. AnonymousJune 25, 2010 at 10:34 AM

    Bitchin' was also used in the late 50's and 60's particularly when young men would talk about cars or women, lol.

    I also remember:
    "Gonna make me hurl" when talking about something distasteful.

    "Stoked" when switching around my use of "awesome" and/or "radical"

    Hello as ever, Miss Ally!

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  22. buffalodickJune 25, 2010 at 10:59 AM

    Some of them stuck, a lot of them are history! In the Midwest, some of the terms were not even used until until they went out of use in California!

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  23. VickyJune 25, 2010 at 11:05 AM

    I totally use it too sometimes... fer sure. Totally rad or radical... or we'd say "Like, gag me."

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  24. Mass Hole MommyJune 25, 2010 at 11:47 AM

    Ugh, I still say half of those.

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  25. Girl InterruptedJune 25, 2010 at 1:14 PM

    As a slightly well-spoken Londoner I've always been rather envious of Valley Girl speech, plus, I approve of any language which promotes the word "gnarly"

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  26. pika23June 25, 2010 at 2:21 PM

    I totally love that movie it's frikkin awesome! I say wicked still...I have a few online buds from new england, so I picked up "wicked" from them. Anyhow, I love the 80's styles coming back!...

    *gasp* I even saw people wearing friendship bracelets the other day! woo! Time to go to ac moore and buy some embroidery floss! I am a master at friendship bracelet making!

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  27. MimiJune 25, 2010 at 3:03 PM

    Love, love, love the movie Valley Girl still to this day. I totally wanted to be a Valley Girl, but I was from Pittsburgh, so that was not happening. Still, I had a t-shirt that said "Grody to the Max", and I rocked the Valspeak. Like, totally tubular, for sure, no way.

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  28. SaltJune 25, 2010 at 3:21 PM

    I will always have a special place in my heart for Valley Girl!

    And I am still very much guilty of overusing #'s 1, 3, 8, and 10.

    Although I really need to reintroduce "grody to the max" into my vocab.

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  29. TILTEJune 25, 2010 at 3:49 PM

    hah. the SF valley is where i live.

    i can say pretty much all of these are still in use out here with the exception of "gag me with a spoon".

    growing up, if my brother or sisters were argueing and there was clearly a victor, it was quickly followed by a celebratory "YOU GOT MODED!!!"

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  30. lizJune 25, 2010 at 5:45 PM

    I am guilty of grody to the max, and dweeb.

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  31. TS HendrikJune 25, 2010 at 8:22 PM

    I've said all of those multiple times in my life. Does that make me valley girl?

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  32. MariaJune 25, 2010 at 10:25 PM

    Totally Awesome post!! Said completely unironically. And it made me feel old. :)

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  33. Babes MamiJune 25, 2010 at 10:34 PM

    Hahaha I still use a lot of these! Sorry I didn't email back, been dealing with MEGA MIGRAINE!!

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  34. JenJune 25, 2010 at 10:39 PM

    I totally use Awesome at least 342 times a day. I even used "gag me with a spoon" the other day because it so totally described what I needed to get across.

    Bitchin' is still awesome.

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  35. m.June 25, 2010 at 11:17 PM

    oh yes.

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  36. m.June 25, 2010 at 11:17 PM

    i use dweeb all the time by the way.
    haha.

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  37. Powdered Toast ManJune 26, 2010 at 5:45 AM

    I only knew a few of these. The only valley girl slang I know if from Saved by the Bell.

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  38. Pat TillettJune 26, 2010 at 1:02 PM

    AS IF...

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  39. Pat TillettJune 26, 2010 at 1:02 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

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  40. foxyJune 29, 2010 at 5:21 PM

    This is seriously awesome.

    When I was in elementary, I had a 3/4 sleeve pink baseball tee that said "gag me with a spoon" on it... and it was my FAVORITE SHIRT EVER. I was totally and completely a valley girl. For sure!

    "Radical" was also one I remember. And "totally tubular"!! And I loved saying "bitchin" because I felt like I was saying a bad word, but I really wasn't. :)

    You know, come to think of it... I may have never grown out of that valley girl stage. I still use about 90% of those words! Ha....

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  41. UnknownApril 23, 2014 at 9:20 PM

    Valley Girl is like, my favorite movie of all times ya know? It's the most totally awesome movie ever made. I have talked the talk since the first time I watched it and still do today. I live in Texas but people are always asking me if I'm from California. I'm so sure I was born in the wrong state, I should've been from Cali.

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