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G33Z3R Slang Files · 19801999

Why do people from Boston say "wicked"?

Wicked

Means
Very (wicked good, wicked cold); also excellent on its own
Came from
New England; it's a regional intensifier, not a national fad
Peak
Ongoing in Massachusetts; the '80s spread it to the rest of the country
Still around?
Wicked yes

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An intensifier from New England that the rest of the country heard in the '80s and borrowed. In Boston it means very and always has; everywhere else it meant cool for about a decade.

Good Will Hunting exported it in 1997 and it's now the shorthand for a Boston accent, which people in Boston find wicked annoying.

Sources: Wiktionary — Wicked

Who did you say "Wicked" to? Tell us where and when.

The drive, the dance, the heartbreak, the summer. Add a memory of Wicked.

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