FREE U.S. SHIPPING ON ORDERS $45+
FREE U.S. SHIPPING ON ORDERS $45+
Your grandparents went steady. Your parents had a main squeeze. You might call yours bae. The Evolution of Our Favorite Slang is the full-color slang history book that finally settles the family argument about who said it first, delivered as an instant download PDF you can read on your phone, tablet, laptop or e-reader the second checkout clears. It's a funny, nostalgic and fact-checked trip through 100+ years of American slang, from the flappers and jazz cats of the 1920s to hip hop, the group chat and your little cousin's TikTok comments. Written by LA artist Neal "Smurf" Sherron, the artist behind Street Rebirth, it reads like your favorite uncle at the cookout who actually knows where the words came from.
Ten illustrated chapters follow the words we use for the things that never change: love, hype, roasting, partying, style, friendship, gossip, the internet, flexing and greatness. Each one walks decade by decade from the 1910s to the 2020s, so you watch "the bee's knees" turn into "fly," then "fresh," then "fire," then "bussin." Find out why "main squeeze" once meant the boss, how "lit" meant drunk back in 1914, why "bae" was never short for "before anyone else," and how the goat who blew the game got upstaged by the GOAT. Every chapter comes with The Backstory (the real history behind one word), a Through the Decades table that retells the same moment in every era's slang, Did You Know? facts built for winning arguments, and an Interactive Moment to fill in, rate and pass around the room.
Then the bonus sections hit: TV and movie catchphrases from "Dy-no-mite!" to "Bye, Felicia," regional slang from LA to the Bay to Philly, New Orleans, Houston and Chicago (with a full Los Angeles spotlight on foo, firme, Sigalerts, lowriders and krumping), and the Slang Hall of Fame for the words that never retired. It wraps with Slang Etiquette, a Which Generation Are You Really? family quiz, a glossary of 280+ slang terms with an Alive, Life Support, Retired or Comeback status check on every word, and source notes for the most surprising dates. The book celebrates the communities that gave America its best words, especially Black culture, LGBTQ+ ballroom, Chicano neighborhoods, jazz and Southern rap.
This is the last-minute digital gift that actually gets read: perfect for parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, word nerds, hip hop heads, pop culture fans and anybody who's ever been told "nobody says that anymore." Send it as a birthday gift, a Father's Day or Mother's Day surprise, a Secret Santa or white elephant gift that never has to be wrapped or shipped, or pull it up at Thanksgiving, the family reunion or game night and let the generations go at it. Because it's a printable PDF, you can print the quiz and the activity pages for a family game night, a classroom icebreaker or a party. Prefer a real book for the coffee table? The paperback is on Amazon.
Details: Instant digital download, 1 PDF file, 156 pages including the full-color cover, 7 x 10 inch pages, full-color interior with original illustrations. 10 chapters plus 3 bonus sections, a family generation quiz, Slang Etiquette, a glossary of 280+ terms and chapter-by-chapter source notes. Clickable table of contents. Opens on iPhone, Android, iPad, Kindle (via Send to Kindle), laptops and desktops, and prints on standard paper. Written by Neal Sherron of Street Rebirth, Los Angeles. PG-13, grown-folks humor that's still family-table friendly. This is a digital product... no physical book will be shipped.
File Care: Your download link arrives by email right after checkout. Save the PDF to your phone's Files or Books app, your Google Drive or your computer so you always have it. The file is licensed for your personal use, so please don't share, upload or resell it... send your people here to grab their own copy instead. Lost your link or need help opening the file? Message us and we'll get you sorted.
