It all started with the first page of a book. A book about words. A book I was very passionate about, had been thinking about all the time, and was constantly researching.

This is not that book.

This is what I wrote while I was procrastinating on writing that other book (I'll get around to it, I swear). You see, I love words. I like the way certain words sound, I like the way certain words are a secret code among our near and dearest, and how certain words carry a world within them. Just a few letters, in a particular order, creating a sound that we, among ourselves, agree has a meaning—it's a magic trick that causes us countless amounts of joy, love, and even pain and despair.

But once again, that's not what this book is about. This book is about the words that we will inevitably forget.

It all started when a friend shared a link to Gen Z terms with me and I realised how out of touch I was with the current state of slang. I think it was hearing "my delulu is my solulu" that finally broke my brain. This got me wondering about how many awesome phrases from my own youth have just... vanished. How many of these secret codes have we forgotten? And shouldn't there be a way to preserve this stuff, to pass it on to the next generation so they can understand just how truly weird we were? You're welcome, future historians.

The point of this book is to be more than just a dictionary; it’s a time machine disguised as a field guide. It's a place to capture these little linguistic artifacts before they disappear forever. It’s for the sheer, unapologetic fun of remembering a word that once meant everything to your little tribe. It's a celebration of the language that happened in the margins—at the mall, in the back of the bus, and during late-night movie marathons.

Oh, but the journey doesn't end here. The 80s was just the first stop. The "Slanguage Chronicles" is an ongoing mission. Next, we're diving headfirst into the flannel-clad, dial-up world of the 90s, followed by the Y2K, pop-punk-fueled dawn of the 2000s. Each decade has its own secret language, and we plan to chronicle them all.

So, thanks for being here at the start of this totally bodacious adventure. I invite you to check out the first book, grab some righteous merch, and definitely sign up for the newsletter to come along for the ride. It's gonna be, like, awesome.

- Lex Langman