Welcome to the Vancouver Lexicon. Its purpose is to pin down the patois of the City of Vancouver by recording its toponyms, nicknames, slang terms, personalities, places, and other Van-centric things. Full A-Z here.

Flashbang Nutshot | historical | A reference to the unfortunate moment when a flashbang grenade fired by police impacted the groin area of a young man in the midst of the 2011 Stanley Cup Riot in downtown Vancouver. A CBC news camera caught the moment, which was widely broadcasted, and the scene went viral due to a slow motion treatment on YouTube that featured laughing, schadenfreude-heavy commentary and the ‘Flashbang Nutshot’ title. The clip is also celebrated in a short song of the same name and remixed into an intense battle scene from the film Saving Private Ryan.

Usage: “The only thing that made me laugh in the immediate wake of the Canucks riot was the Flashbang Nutshot.”