1980s
Rad
Awesome or impressive.
What it means
Signals strong approval of something exciting or cool.
"That kickflip was so rad."
Origin
Surfers and skateboarders shortened "radical" to describe bold moves; movies and TV spread it nationwide in the 1980s.
Cultural context
Iconic of Southern California youth culture in the '80s.
How the sentiment was expressed
Something is excellent
- BoomersGroovy
- Gen XRad
- MillennialsDope
- Gen ZLit / Fire
- Gen AlphaBussin'
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