This essay writing course came to mind recently when I excavated a couple of handouts from it. One handout provides the definitions of slang words that were being used during the last two years of the 1960s. The other handout has definitions of slang used in Watts, a large residential district of Los Angeles inhabited mostly by African-Americans, in the late 1960s. Watts was famous at the time for the wild riots that occurred there in 1965 with extensive burning and looting.
The slang definitions were taken from an academic journal, Current Slang, published by the University of South Dakota. I assume the handouts were provided to us to help with the language we used in our essays.
Looking at these 1969 slang words, it is fun to try to recall if they were words that I used at the time. Do I still use them? What slang words do I not recognize? What happened to them?
Many of the words in these two handouts have been fully incorporated into the English language so that now we no longer think of them as slang. A much smaller number of words in the handouts have disappeared from the language or have changed their meanings.
This list of words reminds us of the dynamic nature of the English language and how it grows both richer and poorer over time as words are added and other words fade away.
Part 1: Current Slang of the American Language, 1969
Ace n. A skilled performer.
-He’s an ace in pool.
v.
To perform well.
-I
think I aced that test.
All-nighter n.
A long, difficult job; a cram session
Axe n. Guitar
Bent out of adj. Angry; dissatisfied
Shape
Blow…mind adj. To lose control.
Boss adj. Good; the right thing; especially a good
sound.
Cold turkey adj. Unprepared.
-He
took that history test cold turkey.
Cop out v. To change intentions
-He’d
like to cop you on that party.
Cut a trail v. To leave.
-We’d
better cut a trail before the counselor comes.
Dog v.
To contribute an inadequate performance; to give less
that the best.
that the best.
Drop back and v. To try a new strategy after a setback; to try
again
Punt
Fink out v. To disappoint
-She
really finked out on her date.
Freaked out adj. Acting abnormally
Funky adj.
Relaxed; informal
-We
wanted the bar to be a funky place.
Greaser n. Gangster; “hood”; a shady type
Gross adj. Displeasing, unpleasant, crude
-That
guy’s jokes are really gross.
Grossed out adj. Disgusted
-I’m
really grossed out at this exam.
Grunge n. A bad, unpleasant thing, especially food.
-Did
you see that grunge we had for supper?
Hacked off adj. Anger
Hang it there v. To keep struggling
Hang loose v. To relax; to remain calm
Lunchbox n. A simpleton
Metrecal n. A process of treatment used on self-important
people;
Shampoo the cure for fatheads.
-What
he needs is a metrical shampoo.
Nurd n. Someone with objectionable habits or traits;
an affected person; a “dud”
Out of …trees adj. Insane; confused
Out of sight adj. Beyond belief
Out to lunch adj. Conceited; snobbish
P.G.A. n. Pure grain alcohol
Rack n. Body
v. To sleep
Rah-rahs n.
saddle oxfords
Rally v.
To attend a party; drink; to have a “wild time.”
Saigon tech n. Vietnam; Vietnam war.
Suck suds v. To drink beer.
-Let’s
go suck suds.
Tough adj. Attractive; perfect.
Turn on. V.
To become enlivened, usually for a short period of time.
Up tight adj. Sophisticated; “cool”
Uptight adj. Nervous; worried
Unreal adj.
Unbelievable
-It
was an unreal time.
Whole-hog adj.
Enthusiastic
Zilch n. A nobody
Zonked adj.
Drunk
-He
was really zonked last night.
The above definitions came from Current Slang, vol II, no 4; vol. III, no. 4; and volume IV, no. 1,
1968-69; Department of English, University of South Dakota.
Part 2: Slang of Watts (Black neighborhood in Los Angeles), 1969
Acid v.
LSD (Drug user’s jargon)
Babe n. A girl
Bad News n. An uncomfortable or dangerous situation;
an
untrustworthy person.
- That bar was bad news.
Bag n. A problem.
Barge n. A big car; a Cadillac
Bastille n. Jail
Beautiful adj. Pleasing, nice.
-It’s
beautiful the way the people work together.
Black. n. A Negro. A work preferred by the new
nationalist groups.
Black power n.
A slogan used to advocate the sharing by Negroes of
economic and
political control in the United States
Broad. n. A woman
Broke adj.
Without money
Bug v. To bother
Bug out v. To drop out; to leave; to quit
Charlie n. Caucasian
Chitterlings n. Soul food; intestines of a hog or a pig to be
cooked slowly
Chuck n.
Caucasian male
Clod n. A stupid person
-Harry
has flunked every test, he’s such a clod.
Cool cat n. A person with whom there is immediate
rapport;
one who is in with the crowd.
-All
the cool cats were at the jazz scene.
Cool head n.
A person who treats people well; someone
who does
favors
Cool it interj. Stop what you are doing
Crash v. To go to bed; to go to sleep
-I
really crashed after the party last night.
Creep n. A strange person
Cut out v. to leave a place.
-I
think it’s about time to cut out.
Devil n. A Caucasian
Dog n. An unattractive woman.
Dough n. Money
Dud n. A joke intended to be funny which falls flat
-He’s
always telling duds, and it gets tiring hearing
the same old stuff all
the time.
Fink v.
To tell on
Flake out v. Fall asleep
-Bill
has flaked out.
Flat n. A house; an apartment
Fox n. An attractive girl
Foxy adj. Attractive, sexy.
Fuzz adj. Police
Go lurking v. To go joy riding
-I
went out lurking last night.
Grapevine n. A chain of gossiping people.
-You
said you heard it through the grapevine.
Grass n. Pot, marijuana.
Groovy adj. Excellent, smooth, wonderful
Hip adj. Informed on current events
-He
is hip. He knows what’s happening.
Keep your cool v. To stay calm
Kicks n. Excitement; fun; a daring experience; shoes
-You’ve
got a hole in your kicks.
Maintain your v. To
keep a level head and to stay calm in a time of
Cool turmoil or disagreement.
- Man, you best maintain your
cool or Joe will busy your
mug.
Mod adj. Modern, in the fashion.
-Everybody’s
going mod, why don’t you get hip.
Out-to-lunch adj. A person who does not take drugs.
-He
is out to lunch.
Pull someone’s v. To expose someone’s reputation or activities
Covers
Punk n. A person, usually a man, who is no good.
Put me on v. To tease
Soul n. Awareness; feeling; sensitivity; the spiritual bond felt
by Blacks for each other. Rarely said to describe
Caucasians.
-He
has soul: he knows things; he’s
tuned in.
Soul brother n. Used by one Negro to another whether or not
they are
acquainted.
acquainted.
Soul food n.
Good fresh food which has neither been canned or frozen.
Often refers to
pork, greens, black-eyed peas, and
cornbread.
Souling v. Playing an instrument well.
-Man, he is really
souling on the trumpet.
Soul Language n.
Idioms and slang used by Negroes between themselves.
Soul minority n. Negroes. Used by Negroes to describe themselves.
Soul sister n. Any female Negro. Used to describe a Negro in the
Soul minority n. Negroes. Used by Negroes to describe themselves.
Soul sister n. Any female Negro. Used to describe a Negro in the
same situation as yourself. She may be a friend, or
acquaintance, or even a stranger.
acquaintance, or even a stranger.
Soul sound n.
Good music. Harmony which appeals to Blacks
Soul talk n. Meaningful conversation among Negroes.
Spade n. Negro
Threads n. Clothes
Too much adj.
Very nice.
-That is just too
much
Tube n. Television
Weird adj. Different; square;
hippie; homosexual
Yen n. A craving for heroin (Drug user’s jargon)
Definitions
from Current Slang, Vol III, No, 2,
1968.
An interesting list!
ReplyDeleteThe Oxford English Dictionary has launched an appeal to find examples of "low rider" earlier than 1968:
http://public.oed.com/appeals/low-rider/
A snippet from Google Books suggests "low rider" was defined in a 1967 "Current Slang":
http://books.google.com/books?ei=t6seUd2BFoSm4ASg4IHIDQ&id=SWVXAAAAYAAJ&dq=car+%22lowrider%22+OR+%22low-rider%22+OR+%22low+rider%22&q=+%22low+rider%22#search_anchor
But Google often gets the dates wrong. I wonder if you could confirm if it's in any of your copies. It would be particularly interesting to find out if it is in the "Slang of Watts" section, as another OED appeals contributor (username: Bryn_OED) has found some early examples linking the term to the 1965 Watts Riots.
Thanks!
Thank you for the comment. This handout did not include the term "low rider" in the Slang of Watts. I don't know if the instructor who gave us the handout included all of the terms included in the journal article from which the words were taken: Current Slang, Vol III, No, 2, 1968. Perhaps the journal article had a longer list, including "low rider."
ReplyDeleteThe search for a word origin is such a challenge. Good luck with the search for the first use of the term.
This is very interesting and can help in teaching English, especially the detriment that slang has on English usage. I personally think slang and abbreviations are bad in most cases. I define slang as short for "sloppy language".
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, though I disagree with you to some extent. When I read the list slang used in the '60s, I am amazed at the number of words that have stuck around and even become part of standard conversation. It seems to me that slang tends to be vivid, sometimes provocative, sometimes evocative and thus enlivens discourse. Fortunately the most sloppy and offensive slang usually gets discarded after a mercifully brief existence. (I certainly agree that the use of abbreviations and excessive use of acronyms interferes with good communication and is a sign of sloppy thinking and/or laziness.)
DeleteIt really is incredible how many of these have stuck around - there are only a handful I've never heard, and even fewer whose meaning has changed drastically from what's listed here. Super interesting; thank you for posting this!
ReplyDelete