What does “sick” mean as American slang?
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A2 English listening practice · American English · Picked for people who know a little
In American slang, sick can mean “awesome, cool, impressive,” the opposite of its medical meaning. That’s sick = that’s amazing. The flip started in 1980s and 1990s American skate, surf, and snowboard scenes, where dangerous, hard-to-pull-off tricks were called sick. From there it moved into hip-hop, gaming, and general teen English. Other examples of the same flip: bad (good), wicked (great), killer (excellent). Beginners sometimes get confused when an American friend looks at their new haircut and says “that’s sick.”
In this clip, a kid sees his friend’s bedroom for the first time and reacts: “Oh, this is sick. Show us around.”
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Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸In American skate, surf, and snowboard YouTube channels
- ▸In American gaming streams (Twitch, YouTube Gaming)
- ▸In American hip-hop and rap lyrics (Lil Wayne, Drake, Kendrick Lamar)
- ▸In American teen and college conversations
- ▸In American sitcoms about young adults (Workaholics, Atlanta)