"Each generation also seems to need some new words to describe the same old things."
- Stuart Berg Flexner, Preface to the Dictionary of American Slang
I once acquired a dictionary of American slang from the free table at the St. Olaf Library. Published in 1967, it is extremely outdated.
Here is a pictorial representation of slang "as the more popular portion of the cant, jargon, and argot from many sub-groups," (preface, p. vii). Never thought it could look so neat and orderly, much like a flower.
Nevertheless, I thought I would share some select words and phrases featured in this dictionary to enlighten the 21st century on how Americans used to speak.
agony-pipe: a clarinet
apple-head: a stupid person
big drink of water: a youth or man, esp. if tall, who is uninteresting, dull, or boring
brown Abe: a penny
buzz around the barrel: to get something to eat; to eat, esp. a snack.
cookie pusher: a man, usu. a young man, who prefers group feminine society, as tea parties, easy tasks, and nonmasculine sports; an effeminate, weak, or cowardly man
ding-swizzled: darned; damned
dude: 1. an overdressed man; 2. a bus tourist of either sex; formerly a stagecoach tourist
hairpin: 1. a man; a person of either sex; 2. a woman, esp. a housewife; 3. a crackpot; a person with a mind bent like a hairpin; a screwball
higher than Gilroy's kite: very drunk
ish kabibble: an expression meaning "I'm not worrying" or "I don't care"
lard-head: a stupid person
longhair: 1. an intellectual; one who likes serious books, music, theatre, ect.; a person with cultivated tastes; 2. appealing to or liked by intellectuals, usu. said of entertainment
lounge lizard (sofa lizard): a ladies' man, often characterized as stingy, who calls upon girls and women and does not entertain them away from their own homes; the lounge lizard's interest is in necking
mallet-head: a stupid person
Norwegian steam: manpower; muscle power
rinky dink: cheap, gaudy merchandise; junk; drek
Suffering Christ!: 1. an expletive of surprise, mild anger, or disappointment; 2. euph. "Suffering Cats!"
Your mother wears Army boots!: an exclam. of derision
No offense to Mr. Flexner, but I prefer this archaic slang to ours...no need to find something new. Therefore, I suggest you integrate these expressions into your everyday conversation. That way, together we can engender the past and become swellelegent!
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