17 Wicked 90s Sayings We Never Hear Anymore

The 90s were a majorly fun time to come of age, and you can totally tell from the slang. These 90s sayings were part of everyday conversation in the most awesome of decades, and we've got the 411 on how to use them right here.

Speaking of the 411, this is an old one you might not have heard before (unless you lived through the 90s like we did). Back then, we didn't have smart phones, but we did have this number you could dial on your regular landline to look up someone's number. You guessed it: it was 411.

This turned into a great slang term that really fit a lot of situations, from where a party was located to details about a possible crush. "I'm going to get the 411 on that party Heather was talking about." If you had the info, you had "the 411."

Related: 45+ 90s Trivia Questions That Are Da Bomb

Back to your crush. If you thought they were amazing, you might say they were "all that and a bag of chips." We like chips, so we totally get it.

Even more commonly, you could use this to talk about someone who thought they were better than they actually were: "That guy is so annoying. He thinks he's all that and a bag of chips."

If you grew up in the 90s, you might use this phrase to let someone know you thought they were hot. It comes from the popular TV show Animaniacs, which a lot of us watched after school. In the show, there was a pretty nurse the main characters greeted enthusiastically every time they saw her. People started using this 90s saying to talk about anyone they thought was super attractive.

"Sarah walked into Mr. Jefferson's class wearing her new Guess jeans, and I was like, 'Hello, Nurse!'"

The 90s phrase "wicked" meant "cool" or "very." You could use it to describe something like a car ("Wicked new Jeep!) or a person ("She's wicked hot!). Either way, it was super useful, and you don't hear it in conversation anymore.

You might think that a bomb is a bad thing (and we're pretty sure it is unless we're talking about a bath bomb). In the 90s, though, saying something was "the bomb," or even better, "da bomb," was the ultimate compliment. It meant it was the best.

"Olive Garden is my favorite restaurant. It's totally the bomb."

When a friend did something amazing in the 90s, we might congratulate her by saying, "You go, Girl!" It meant "good for you," even though today, it sounds like you're about to make her leave your favorite table at the coffee shop.

"You got the lead in the play?! You go, Girl!"

You've probably heard of "duh" from the 80s, and you may even hear it from time to time today. It's a useful phrase, especially in moderation. But there was a 90s saying that did "duh" one better: "no duh." It basically meant the same thing as duh, only more so: this is something so obvious you don't even need to say it out loud.

"Tara pointed out that it was raining, and I was like, 'no duh.'"

While we're talking about dismissive 90s slang, we can't forget "talk to the hand." This phrase, which was always accompanied by a hand raised palm-out toward the person you were talking to, meant "I'm done with this conversation now."

"I'm so over this conversation right now. Talk to the hand."

The 90s were all about dropping the perfect line and walking away (at least if you were fighting with your sister over the TV remote). Another great dismissive phrase of the decade was "whatever." You could use it any time you wanted to end the conversation by showing you just couldn't be bothered to care.

"Andy said Friends was the best TV show, and I was like, 'Whatever.'"

Now for a real 90s gem. If you wanted to let someone know you were way better than they were and didn't care what they thought or just didn't want to do what they wanted, you could say "eat my shorts." This super weird 90s saying came from the popular TV show The Simpsons.

"If you think I'm going to lose this game of tetherball, you can eat my shorts."

This might seem like a nice thing to say, but it was actually a passive-aggressive guilt trip in disguise. You could say it sarcastically when you had a new haircut or brought home a great report card and didn't get attention for it. It was also really useful as a response to a compliment you felt you were already due.

"I got a new Esprit tote bag. Thanks for noticing."

Ever need to tell someone you hate an idea so much you can't even entertain the fantasy of it? That's where "as if" comes in. For instance, you might say to your friend, "Jacob asked me to go to the movies with him. As if!" (The subtext here is that Jacob is not awesome enough for a movie date, and you are definitely not going with him.)

This is a super weird one that we're glad didn't leave the 90s. Basically, you say something and immediately negate it by adding "not" at the end. For example, you might say, "I think Debbie Gibson is the best singer of all time...NOT!"

Cell phones started to be a thing in the late 90s, but most people didn't have one during the majority of the decade. Instead, they had pagers. Your pager would have a number people could call, and they could leave a number-based message. This usually meant you should call them back. A common 90s saying was "page me," if you wanted someone to get ahold of you.

"Here's my number. Page me."

Every decade has its own exclamations of happiness, and "booyah" was the one for the 90s. Anytime something really great happened, you might follow it up with an enthusiastic booyah of celebration.

"Tomorrow is the last day of school! Booyah!"

Speaking of celebrating, when you were at a party playing really loud music and having a great time in the 90s, you would say you were "raising the roof." It was a really specific phrase that no one uses anymore.

"We're celebrating the end of the semester at Jenny's house tomorrow night. We're going to raise the roof!"

The ultimate 90s saying was..."It's the 90s." This simple phrase was used to sum up all the progress of the past decades and highlight how things were different now. This was super popular at the beginning of the decade and really uncool by the time it hit 2000.

"Grandma, it's totally fine for me to ask Brian out. It's the 90s."

Sure, the 90s was the best, but there are so many 90s sayings we really don't need to hear again. From the totally dismissive "whatever" to the super lame "it's the 90s," we're mostly glad these phrases live on only in our memories. Still, we wouldn't say no to a well-timed "wicked!"