This dictionary is used by the cast members of Jersey Shore, Snooki & JWoww, and Jersey Shore: Family Vacation. These iconic words and catchphrases made the series standout.
A[]
Atomic Bomb[]
The biggest and ugliest person at the club, essentially a grenade to the fifth power. These bombs must be avoided at all costs or will ruin the entire night.
B[]
Beat Up the Beat[]
- "That's what we say when we're doing our fist pump. First we start off banging the ground. As the beat builds, it's like the beat is hittin', so we're fighting back. We are beating up the beat."
- —Pauly D
Used to describe the iconic go-to fist-pumping dance moves the guidos and guidettes broke out while partying. The purpose of the fist pump is to "beat up the beat" as if you're in a fight with it.
Blow Out[]
A super gelled, hair dried, elaborate hairstyle that takes hours to make and years to perfect. It's Pauly's signature hairstyle that's rocked for over 15 years.
C[]
Chooch[]
Confessional[]
- "You go into a room. You push a little record button. And you kind of record, like, what's on in the moment."
- —Deena
Creepin'[]
When a guy is one the prowl for a hook-up at the club or bar. This is usually used when a guy has only a hookup on his mind and isn't looking for anything more. The guy usually goes about it in a creepy way by watching women and deciding to approach them or not. Ronnie would go creepin' after a fight with Sammi, while Mike was doing creepin' every night.
D[]
DTF[]
A faster of way of asking, or saying, that a person is "down to f*ck".
Double-Bagger[]
An unattractive person who is so ugly that both the person pursuing and pursued need a bag over their heads incase one falls off.
Dren[]
The drunk alter ego of Nicole and the maximum drunk Snooki. Dren is mean, catty, short-tempered, and is the Snooki who got arrested for being drunk on the beach. She infamously threw crab cakes in Angelina's hair and picked a fight with Ron.
F[]
F.F.D.[]
F.F.D. stands for Family Fun Day and is used to describe the unique vacations Deena plans for the crew.
FTD[]
Fresh to Death.
G[]
GTL[]
A motto. A way of life. A ritual. GTL is Gym, Tan, Laundry and is how every guido and guidette lives their life. They wake up in the morning and hit the gym, then go tanning (which can be spray, a tanning bed, or natural color), and do laundry. The laundry aspect includes always look "fresh to death" and wearing a great outfit.
GTF[]
A twist on GTL which replaces laundry with "find" when there is a mystery to be solved. Such as, "Gym, tan, find out who wrote The Note".
Gorilla[]
A very muscular man who is extremely athletic, cares about his appearance, and often does steroids. They are also called gorilla juiceheads.
Golden Ticket[]
A euphemism that Deena used to describe guys having sex with her. She prided herself in not hooking up with guys on the first night and made them work for the "golden ticket" to her pants.
Grenade[]
- See also: Grenade
The term grenade is used by the cast to describe ugly or unattractive people. There's a few classes of grenades including grenade launcher, submarine, tank, and atomic bomb.
Grenade Launcher[]
A larger, even uglier, person brought along to make the grenade look more attractive.
Grenade Free Foundation[]
The GFF was founded in Miami when the guys were determined to have a grenade free summer.
Grenade Whistle[]
- "When there's some grenades or some beasts present in the house, we got the grenade whistle."
- —Vinny
On occasion, the guys would be so drunk they wouldn't realize they brought home a grenade, so Vinny and Pauly created the "grenade whistle" as an alarm that a grenade is in the house. They sounded the alarm more than once for each other.
Guidos / Guidettes[]
- See also: Guidos
- "A guidette is somebody who knows how to club it up, takes really good care of themselves, has pretty hair, cakes on makeup, has tanned skin, wears the hottest heels. Pretty much they know how to own it and rock it."
- —Sammi
A Guido, or guidette, is a term used to stereotype Italian-Americans. It is used throughout the reality show as a positive identifier for the cast.
I[]
I'm F*cked Foundation[]
The IFF exists when someone (typically Ronnie) messes up so royally that they become a member of the "I'm F*cked Foundation". When he cheated on Sammi, Pauly deemed him the captain of the IFF. A decade later, Ron rejoins the IFF. The term is currently spray-painted on the wall of the Shore House.
J[]
Jerzday[]
A way of saying it's "Jersey Shore day" or "Thursday", since that's when both series aired. It was used a lot in promotion for the series and became part of the cast members slang. Beginning on September 22, 2023, it encompasses the Atlantic City Holiday called "Jersey Shore Day".
K[]
Kitchen Ditchin'[]
Mike used this move to get out of the trouble in his bed by "ditchin" the situation for the kitchen and getting a snack.
L[]
Landmine[]
A version of a grenade, except a landmine is thin, ugly person instead of an overweight, ugly person. The term is unisex and has been applied to both men and women.
M[]
Meatball[]
- See also: Meatballs
A meatball, typically, is a woman who is short, round, and falls down a lot while drunk. Meatballs are wild, carefree, dramatic, messy drinkers, and loud.
MVP[]
- See also: MVP
The group name for the three male cast members is derived from the first initial of each members name - Mike, Vinny, and Pauly.
MVPD[]
An update to MVP, this group included Deena after her alliance with Mike in Miami. Deena insisted she was "one of the guys" and could hang with them without it being weird. Denna was kicked out of MVP after she spent the entire night interfering with MVP's attempt to get girls.
P[]
Poof[]
A hairstyle made popular in the early 2000s, was Snooki and Deena's go-to look each day. It required tons of hairspray to hold up a giant hair bump at the top of the head.
R[]
Robbery[]
- See also: Robbery
- "A robbery is when you just swoop in your buddy's girl and commit robbery It's a jungle out there. Be prepared."
- —Mike
The act of "stealing" a potential hookup for one cast member to keep them for yourself.
Ron Ron Juice[]
An alcoholic beverage that Ronnie makes that causes the roommates to lose control and go wild.
RSVP[]
- See also: RSVP
The group name for the male cast members of the series, Ronnie, Situation, Vinny, and Pauly.
S[]
Sloppy Joe[]
Smush[]
The word "smush" refers to having sex.
Smush Room[]
A designated room in all the houses where the cast members would go for privacy when they smushed. The room is considered a dirty hole now.
Spiraling[]
- "So spiraling is really just like getting drunk and continuing the party. You just drink and have a good time. Like send me home in a body bag. Hot mess, hard to look at, but fun to watch."
- —Deena
Spiraling describes the act of getting getting drunk during the day or at an event and then keeping party going at night, forfeiting sleep for more drinking and partying. This is usually done when one or more of the squad members are going through something as a way to forget your worries for a while. The term largely now applies Nicole and Ronnie, the designated Spiral Squad.
T[]
The Shirt Before the Shirt[]
The boys in the house would put on a white tank top or plain shirt that before going out. It was the shirt they would put on so the shirt they wore out would stay fresh. This kept them fresh to death.
T-Shirt Time[]
When it was time to take off the shirt before the shirt, Pauly would shout throughout the house that it was "t-shirt time". All the guys would collectively go to their rooms and change into their fresh shirt.