Category:
Slang

The Dobie Gillis Teenage slanguage dictionary

A small dictionary of teenage 'slanguage', created in 1962 by an ad agency to promote The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, a sitcom that aired on CBS for four seasons.

Yes, that's Gilligan on the cover (before he was Gilligan).

More info: libraries.indiana.edu





Posted By: Alex - Sun Dec 17, 2023 - Comments (3)
Category: Television, 1960s, Slang

Slang of 1911



Posted By: Paul - Sun Jun 11, 2023 - Comments (4)
Category: 1910s, North America, Slang

The Elizabethean Underworld

This review by the famous Anthony Burgess (A CLOCKWORK ORANGE) alerted me to the existence of a fascinating book. Turns out it's available at the Internet Archive. The lexicon of thieves talk that Burgess mentions makes for fun reading.

Review source: The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) 19 Mar 1965, Fri Page 11





Posted By: Paul - Sat Jan 28, 2023 - Comments (1)
Category: Crime, History, Books, Slang

A Jazz Lexicon

Pepper your speech with all these forgotten slang terms, and you will acquire an air of coolness and mystery.






Posted By: Paul - Wed Dec 21, 2022 - Comments (2)
Category: Music, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers, 1960s, Slang

Underworld Lingo, 1930

Some of these look pretty dubious.

Source.


Posted By: Paul - Thu Oct 07, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Crime, Languages, Slang, 1930s

Chorus girl slang from the ‘40s and ‘50s

  • Blast: a drink. As in, "What'll it be? A small blast or a large blast?"
  • Cream cheese: "a fresh, beautiful young girl."
  • Endsville: "When a gal gets away from all this madness and marries and has a fine home."
  • Give me a bell: call me.
  • He's ill: "He's an incurable night-lifer. Home is not where he hangs his hat but where he'd hang himself if he had to go there."
  • Idget: "an idiot, junior grade."
  • Iron: "a big rich auto." Also known as "a nice piece of tin."
  • Revolving Eyeballs: a guy who "drools at the practically undressed pretties."
  • Seppo: "a guy separated; he and wife are in 'Splitsville'."


Camden Courier-Post - Mar 14, 1951

Posted By: Alex - Mon Jul 19, 2021 - Comments (2)
Category: ShowBiz, Slang

Flapper Dictionary

As defined by Wikipedia, "Flappers were a generation of young Western women in the 1920s who wore skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, smoking cigarettes, driving automobiles, treating sex in a casual manner, and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms."

A "Flapper Dictionary" appeared in various newspapers and magazines in 1922. Selections below. Even more flapper terms can be found at Book Flaps and Click Americana.











New Castle Herald - Apr 1922


Posted By: Alex - Tue Oct 08, 2019 - Comments (4)
Category: Languages, Slang, Subcultures, 1920s

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