Middle Aisle: to get married. A : : : Smoke some marijuana : Still in use but I have a 1930 song with this as the title. Yo- hello, to greet someone. Air Tight: extremely desirable or attractive. They are more loyal to themselves and sentimental.
A chaperone aka, a killjoy, an alarm clock. While The Great Gatsby drew attention to a world of insouciant pleasure-seeking, the 1920s also saw plenty of words enter the language. Fly boy: a glamorous term for an aviator. Blind date: going out with someone you don't know. Mazuma: Dollar bills, cash, money 37.
There are several Internet sites that provide detailed glossaries of 1920s slang including and , the sources for many of the above slang words. Flat Tire: A dull-witted or disappointing date. Glad rags: going out on the town clothes. Flapper: A stylish, brash young woman with short skirts and shorter hair. Bank's closed: no kissing or making out. Gangsters were off-color, played by their own rules, and didn't give a hoot about what anyone thought of them, i.
It girl grew in popularity and became distanced from the film — and It boy swiftly followed by 1929. I have heard more to these that someone made up little ryhms that make these more elaborate but this is all I got. Study up and make to find out! Off-Time Jive: To be inappropriate, impolite; to have bad manners. Some seem apt for the era, some might surprise, and all twenty selected below have survived for almost a century. And how could I resist following the etymology instructions to compare hot ziggety 1924 and lickety 1817? Beezer: Nose Behind the eight ball: In a difficult position, in a tight spot Bent Cars: Stolen cars Big Cheese, Big Shot - The boss: Someone of importance and influence Big House: Jail Big One: Death Big Sleep: Death Bim: Woman Bindle: the bundle in which a hobo carries all his worldly possessions Bindle punk or bindle stiff: Chronic wanderers, migratory harvest workers, and lumber jacks.
When one hears the slang of times long gone, it's easy to forget that alcohol was illegal and unsafe, that corruption in government ran rampant, and that minorities and immigrants were more marginalized than ever. Fly boy: a glamorous term for an aviator. I ain't saying she is one. . Many new words and figures of speech popped up around new technology like automobiles; fashion; fads; and new people like flappers, bootleggers, and gangsters.
Dolly - cute girl Dig - to approve Duck Butt or D. Hotsy-totsy: attractive, pleasing to the eye 29. Bad: Cool, good, nice, or good looking depending how you say it 32. The answer was copied and pasted twice so I deleted the duplicate text. Same as pill, pickle, drag, rag, oilcan. Bank's closed: no kissing or making out.
Torpedo: a thug or hitman. See also: canned, corked, tanked, primed, scrooched, jazzed, spifflicated, owled, ossified or fried to the hat. Dapper: a Flapper's dad Dolled up: dressed up Double cross: to cheat, stab in the back. Dead Hoofer: a terrible dancer, someone with two left feet. Butt me: I'll take a cigarette. Usually also a member of the Jazz sub-culture.
Gold digger: a woman who associates with or marries a man for his wealth. Cat's meow: something splendid or stylish. In 1970 the word ripoff was two words and was considered inner city slang. Hope Chest: your trusty pack of cigarettes. Corny- uni … mportant, passé. Then there was moll, and sheba, meaning a gangster's woman and a woman with sex appeal.
Shady- being unfair or not nice. A frequently derogatory term, particularly in the heated cultural wars of the 1920s, 1924 as a noun; 1928 as an adjective evolved as a way of filling the gap between lowbrow a person who is not highly intellectual or cultured, dating to 1901 for the noun and 1907 for the adjective and highbrow at the other end of the spectrum; 1908 noun, 1884 adjective. Last to edit this was Coridus. In each case, the American spelling came first. Bronx Cheer: the sound of raspberries you make to indicate disapproval. Language was truly so much more evocative then, wasn't it? The slang also reflects changing morals and ideas, especially surrounding sexuality. Cast a Kitten: to throw a temper tantrum.
Vomit, probably after too much foot juice or giggle water. Blind date: going out with someone you don't know. Insured: to be engaged to marry. Gold digger: a woman who associates with or marries a man for his wealth. I learned a couple things from the response to my article on slang phrases from the 1920s.