Sock hops and snake dances, Elvis, rock ‘n’ roll, fender skirts, whitewall tires and spinner knobs on the steering wheel. Coonskin caps and ducktail haircuts, pomade and butch wax. Greasers and hula hoops. Crazy, Daddy-o! An explosion of slang. That was the ’50s, my “growing up” time.
Slang can describe a particular social culture and time. The ’50s was a very interesting time period, not just for America but for slang. Some polls have indicated that it was the best time, the “happiest” time in American history. “Happy Days” with Ron Howard and Henry Winkler (“The Fonz”) personified the era.
Television was entering practically every living room in our country, but segregation and racism were still parts of American life. Rules were strict for women. They were obligated to stay at home and make sure dinner was ready for the “breadwinner.”
Children were to be seen and not heard. However, with rock and roll beginning to hit the air waves, teens were discovering new-found freedoms and guys’ hair was getting longer with side burns (Elvis, anyone?) and a dab of Brylcreem (a little dab’ll do ya) to keep it in place. Flat-tops with DAs (that’s short for Duck’s A___) were popular, and the kids on Dick Clark’s “American Bandstand” set the styles.
Girls became more daring in the way they dressed as they began to wear full skirts and tight-fitting blouses, and some of the guys switched from khakis (we called them “sun-tans”) to jeans and leather coats for school.
“Times, they were a-changing,” but not only were the times changing, so was the language. Here’s a quick look at some of the slang I remember from the days of my youth, some of which still hangs on, especially among some of my peers who never really learned the newer slang!
“Cool” still means something is good, OK, neat … I still use it way too much. People still use “cool it” when they want you to settle down. And a “blast” is still a good time, isn’t it? And don’t kids still “make out” or “neck”? “No sweat” still means no problem. And I still hear people talk about “party poopers.” Maybe it’s just old guys like me, though. “Unreal,” isn’t it?
How about some 50s slang that you don’t hear much anymore? “Bag” was a person’s special interest, as in “What’s your bag, dude?” “Bread” was money. “Made in the shade” meant success was guaranteed. People who were “Kookie” were nuts, in the nicest possible ways, probably because of a character in a popular TV show back then called “77 Sunset Strip.” I think “Daddy-O” might have come from that show, too.
“Nowheresville” was a boring place. “Hip” or cool cats would “split that scene” because nowheresville was “bad news.” Only “square” dudes went there. The cool cats wore cool “threads,” man. Cool cats assiduously avoided the “cooties,” those truly unfortunate dudes with imaginary infestations of uncoolness. Cooties came from “Germsville.”
A “Spaz” was a dude who was really uncoordinated, a real “klutz.” To “spaz out” meant to get extremely angry or “go mental” if someone “rattled your cage.” Getting “cranked” (excited) could mean you were “cruisin’ for a bruisin’” (looking for trouble). You might get “shot down” if you got too “raunchy” and folks didn’t “dig” your intentions!
“Don’t have a cow” meant don’t get too excited. “Grody” was sloppy or messy, uncool. “Greasers” were guys who had more than “a little dab” of Brylcreem in their hair. “Dorks” were the nerds of yesteryear. And “Geez, Dad, what was Butch Wax?” Well it was this really keen stuff that let us sport a really cool haircut in the ’50s.
OK, I have to split, gotta burn rubber, rap at ya soon. See ya later, alligator! After while, crocodile.
Categories
