Slang of the 1960s

A Gas: Having a lot of fun, as in “That’s a gas!”
All Show and No Go: Pretty car Nice wheels and so forth Looks good put has no go power
Almost Home: Near the end of a project
Ankle biters: Little children
Ape: Used with verbs gone or went (ie “When I came home an hour late my parents went ape)

Baby: A form of address used in an informal greeting
Bad: Awesome
Bad Pipes: A sore throat
Bad scene: An unpleasant event
Bag: Meant to steal Who bagged my wallet? Also “what’s your bag?”, which meant “What’s your problem?”
Bag some food for the brain: To study diligently
Ball: To have fun; or to have a party
Bat phone: Police officer’s phone
Be there or be square: The cool people will be gathering at a certain place
Beach bunny: Non-surfing girl at the beach
Bearded: Tricked
Beat Feet: Leave the area quickly
Beat It: Leave quickly
Beautiful people: Kindred hippie spirits
Bench Racing: Discussing who could beat who in a drag race
Bent: Grouchy; slightly annoyed
Big deal: Something of no consequence
Birdie biker: Female motorcyclist
Blade: A knife
Blast: Something spectacular; a lot of fun; had a great time like “I had a blast at the dance”
Blitzed: Drunk
Bod: Body or physique
Bogart: Not sharing a joint
Bone Yard: Auto wrecking yard
Bomb: A total failure
Boob tube: Television
Book it: Leave the scene
Bookbusters: Students who study hard
Bookin’: Going real fast, usually in a car
Boss: Cool, fantastic, or super, as in “The new album I just bought is boss!”
Box: A record player
Boxes: Guitars
Brain drain: Emigration of a country’s scientists
Bread: Money
Brew: Beer
Brights: White socks
Brody or Brody Out: To skid half a circle with your brakes locked up
Bug: To annoy someone
Bug Out: Leave the premises
Bum trip: An unpleasant event
Bummed Out: Depressed
Bummer: Unpleasant experience
Bumped: Fired, dismissed
Burn one: Play a song
Burn Rubber: Squeal out with your tires spinning and leaving rubber on the asphalt
Burned: Cheated

Cat: a guy
Catch some rays: sunbather
Chalk Talk: A lecture in school
Change the channel: To change the topic of conversation
Cherry: Pristine or mint condition. That car is cherry!
Chick: a young woman
Chicken (To Play): Two cars drive head on towards each other and the first to pull away is a coward
Chicken head: A person who bothers you
Chill: To ignore
Chinese Firedrill: A Car is stopped at a red light and all occupants of the car get out of the car and run around it and get back in the car while holding up traffic
Choice: really cool; good looking
Chop: to cut down verbally
Chops: Teeth
Chrome Dome: a bald guy
Church Key: Before pop-top cans, there were openers that were designed to puncture the soda can to drink from it
Clanked: Tired
Clean: Knowing the right thing to do
Clue you in: To explain
Clutz: Awkward person
Clyde: A person that one insults or dislikes; a clumsy person
College: Jail
Coming Off: going on, happening
Cool: Nice
Cool Head: nice guy
Cool it: calm down
Cool your chops: To shut your mouth
Copasetic: very good; all right, as in “no problem”
Copping out: To renege, break a promise
Cords: Corduroy pants which were a size too small so they could be worn very tight
Crash: Go to bed; go to sleep
Crash pad: Place to sleep
Crocked: Intoxicated
Cut out: To leave without ceremony
Cut up: To make jokes or pull pranks

Daddy’s Car: A car that was very conservative looking; that might be owned by your parents
Daddy-O: A cool cat.. See CAT above
Dance holes in your soles: To dance energetically
Deb’s delight: Eligible bachelor
Deck: To knock someone out in a fight
Decked Out: All Dressed Up
Deuce and a quarter: A Buick Electra
Dibs: Used with the word got “I got dibs on that seat” Meaning you own it
Dig: Do you understand?
Dime Bag: One ounce of marijuana in a baggie
Ding-a-ling: Odd person, nerd
Dip: A person that one dislikes or insults
Ditz: An idiot
Do your own thing: Do it your own way
Don’t Flip Your Wig: Don’t get upset
Don’t Have A Cow: Don’t get upset
Don’t Sweat It: Don’t let it bother you
Dork: A person who is hopelessly out of touch with the present
Dove: Peace lover
Downers:Barbiturates also called reds
Drag: Someone or something that’s boring
Drop a dime: To inform on someone
Dropout: Nonconformist
Dude: A geek; clumsy; uncoordinated; one the speaker dislikes a male
Dullsville: Boring

Eat Dirt: To receive brutal criticism
Eatin’ grapes off of the wallpaper: Very disturbed about something

Fab: Attractive, exciting, fantastic
Fab Four: The Beatles
Fags: Cigarettes
Fake out: To fool somebody
Fat City: A good situation
Fell out: Went to sleep
Finger poppin’: Snapping your fingers
Fink: Tattletale
Fink out: to back out, quit
Five Finger Discount: Anything acquired by theft
Five on five: Shake hands with someone
Flake: A useless person
Flake off: Scram or get lost
Flake out: A disappointment; a flop
Flap jaw: A talkative person
Flee the scene: To leave
Flick: A movie
Flip Flops: Thongs that you wore on your feet
Flip side: the song on the reverse side of a record
Flower child: hippie, member of the counterculture
Fly right: To be honest
For real: truly, indeed
Fox: An outstanding, attractive looking chick
Freak out: To lose control
Freedom riders: Civil rights protesters
Froggy-doos: Canvas shoes
Frost: To anger
Funky: Down to earth, acceptable
Funny money: Counterfeit bills
Funky: Excellent
Fuzz: The police

Gas: Something spectacular, fun, and amusing
Gasser: The very best
Generation gap: Difference between youth and their parents
Get it together: Straighten out one’s life
Get-up-and-go: Energy, pep
Get With The Words: A command to start talking
Gig: A party; a job for a musician
Gimme some skin: Shake hands
Give me some sugar: To kiss
Glad rags: Dress clothes
Glasspacks: Mufflers lined with fiberglass to muffle the sound The shorter the muffler the louder the sound
Glitch: An obstacle
Go ape: Lose control
Go-go: Of discotheques or a style of music
Go with the flow: To relax, be passive
Going Steady: If you were “going steady,” you were dating only one special person
Gone: Cool, groovy, neat, neato
Greaser: Person with long oily hair
Green: Money
Grody: Disgusting
Groove: A record
Groove yard: A record store
Groovin’: Enjoying something
Groovy: Outstanding, nice, “cool” or neat
Gross: Repulsive
Grossed out: Disgusted
Grubs: Old, comfortable clothing
Grungy: Shabby, dirty
Gutt Waddin’: Any type of cheap fast food, to fill you up and take the hunger away

Hack: Cope
Hacked or Hacked Off: Mad or upset
Hairy: Out of control or difficult
Hang a left: Make a left turn
Hang it up: To quit
Hang loose: Relax, take it easy
Hang tough: To persevere or endure
Hang-up: Problem
Happening: Special event or a good party
Hassle: To fight
Hawk: War supporter
Heat: The police
Heavy: Powerful, deep thought, or sad
Herion: was known as “smack”, “horse”, or the more appropriate “poison”
Hip: Very Cool
Hodad: A non-surfer who just hangs around the beach
Hog: A Cadillac
Home plate: Where you live
Hood: Small-time, petty criminal
Hopped up: Souped up like a car
Hot dog: Show-off
Hot Wax: A very popular phonograph record
Hunk: What a girl calls a good-looking guy
Hustle: To persuade or pressure

Idiot stick: Someone who acts as he was not very smart
In Crowd: The group of popular people
In the groove: A member of the in-crowd

Jam: A party
Jam the box: To play a phonograph record
Jazzed: Elated, excited
Jive: Talk that makes no sense
Johnny Law: The police
Joint: A marijuna “cigarette” often referred to as a “joint”, “spliff”, “bone”, “doobie”, “reefer” or “Hey, gimme that!” A half smoked joint was a roach. Popular phrase was “Don’t Bogart that joint” meaning pass it around or share it. From lyrics by Country Joe And The Fish
Juice: Inside, confidential information

Keyed: Excited
Kicks: A pastime; an activity done for pleasure
Killer: Extremely good
Kiss off: To dismiss
Kissup: A person that will do anything to please another person in authority
Konk: The head
Konk class: School

Laid back: Relaxed
Lame: Pathetic
Later: Goodbye
Lay A Patch: Burn rubber with car wheels as you leave
Lay It On Me: Tell me or speak your piece
Lay out: To sunbathe
Leaner: A freeloader
Let’s hat up: Generally used in the military Since you had to wear a hat while in uniform while outside so when leaving a building you would say “lets hat up”
Let’s here some lingo: A command to start talking
Lid: One ounce of marijuana in a baggie
Lingo: Speech or language dialect
Lip Flappin’: Talking about things of little importance
Loaded: Intoxicated or drunk
Lose your cool: To lose one’s temper or to “become flustered
LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide: Acid, Trips, Cubes, Acid Freak, Acid Head, Acido, Aeon Flux. Associated with the names of colors.

Machine: An extremely fast and good-looking car
Make Out: Kissing
Make Tracks: To leave in a hurry
Marijuana: also called “pot”, “weed”, “herb”, “smoke”, “reefer”, “Mary Jane” or “Hey, gimme that!”
Meanwhile Back At The Ranch: It was used to get the storyteller to get to the point. Keep it short.
Mess and a half: A situation which has degenerated beyond what you can handle
Mickey Mouse: Out of touch with styles and trends
Midnight Auto Service: Car thieves
Midnight Auto Supply: Stolen auto parts
Mileage: Wrinkles
Mint: Fine; excellent; great
Mod: Modern, in fashion
Mop-top: One with a Beatle haircut
Mover: Influential person
Music machine: A radio, jukebox, or phonograph
My Man: A very good friend

Neato: Sharp
Nifty: Useful, good
Nitty-Gritty: The core of truth
No Sweat!: No problem
No Way!: Definitely not!
Nose: The front end of a surfboard
Not to cool: Devious, unfair
Now: Fashionable
Nowhere: Not very good; not acceptable

Off the wall: Strange
Old Lady: Referred to Mom
Old Man: Referred to Dad
On the hook: Responsible for the outcome of something
On the turf: Looking for work
Out of his tree: Crazy
Out of sight: Great, unbelievable

PDA: Public Display of Affection
Pack it in: To get rid of someone or something
Pad: Bed, place to sleep
Paper Shaker: Cheerleader
Passion Pit: Drive-in Movie
Pay one’s dues: To pay for making a mistake
Payola: Money, a bribe
Peel Out: Burn or leave rubber with your car
Peepers: Eyeglasses
Percolate!: Let it happen!
Pig: Cop
Pig Out: Overeat
Pit Guard: Underarm deodorant
Pits: Disgusting, unpleasant
Plastic:Artificial, fake; less than genuine
Pokey: Jail
Poop: The latest information
Pound: To beat up somebody ie “I’m gonna pound you
Psychedelic: Bright, dreamy patterns of light or color

Rack: To sleep
Rag top: Convertible
Rags: Clothes
Rap: To talk, chart
Rap session: Discussion
Rat: Someone who informs on you
Rat fink: Detestable person; someone who informs on you
Ratty: Unfair; in bad condition
Rays: Sunshine
Real People: An honest, sincere, candid person
Rents: Parents
Right on: Yes, okay; a term of agreement
Righteous: Very good
Ring on the ring-a-ling: Call on the telephone
Rinky-Dink: Trivial
Rip off: Robbery, theft
Rockin’ Out: Really good fun:spectacular
Rubbers: Shoes for rain or condoms.
Rumble: To fight, especially a gang-related fight

SWAK: Sealed With A Kiss
Sack out: To go to sleep
Sad: An expression of disapproval
Scene: The place where something is happening
Scratch: Money
Scurvy: Ugly; weird; not having a neat appearance
Shades: Sunglasses
Shot down: Rejected
Shotgun: Passenger seat in the front seat of a car next to the door The place of honor.
Shrink: Psychiatrist
Shuck: A phony
Shut your face: Stop talking!
Sit in: To take over an area in protest
Skinny: The latest information
Skirt: A girl
Skuzz bucket, which could mean an ugly car as well
Snuff: To ignore or to break a
Soak up some rays: To sunbathe
Sock it to me: Let me have it; or sa
Sosh: Meaning a person who is stuck-up, snooty,
Spaced out: Completely inattentive
Speed: What most users called any drug from the amphetamine family. Also known as “Bennies”, “Whites”, and “Uppers”
Spiffy: Neat, good
Split: Leave the scene
Square: Somebody not “cool”
Squaresville: A dull place
Stay loose: To remain poised;
Stood Up: A no-show for a date
Straight: Not using drugs
Street people: The homeless
Strung out: Disturbed, word
Stuck Up: Conceited
Submarine Races: Park to which of course was only an excuse to park and make out For your information there were no such thing as a submarine race
Sweat: To worry

Take care of business (TCB): To do something
Talkin’ trash: Gossiping, lying, exaggerating
Teach: A teacher
Teenie bopper: Young teen rock
Teenies: Tennis shoes
Tell it like it is: Hold nothing back
The man: Anyone in authority
Thick: Naïve; dense; dumb
Ticked off: Angry
Tight: Very friendly
Think Fast: It usually tell you to get ready because someo was tossing you something
Threads: Clothes
Thumb: To hitchhike
Tight: Close to someon
Together: Free of anxiety
Toke: taking a puff on a joint (marijuana cigarette)
Tones: Phonograph records
Tooling: To cruise or drive around
Torn up: Hurt
Total: Completely demolish
Tough: Great looking
Tough as toenails: hard or strong
Trash: To make a mess of
Treads: Sneakers, shoes
Tuesday: Later, never
Tuff: Excellent
Tune in: Pay attention
Tune out: Ignore
Tunes: Songs
Turn off: Not good
Tuesday: Later, never
Tuff: Excellent
Tuna (or Big Tuna
Tune in: Pay attention
Tune out: Ignore
Tunes: Songs
Turn off: Not a good thing

Uncool: Bad, tense; t
Unglued: Distraught
Unreal: Outstanding; o
Up front: Open, straightforward, upright
Uptight: Nervous, tense; bound by conventional thinking

Wax: A phonograph record
Way out: Beyond explanation
Wedgie: When somebody pulls your underwear up from the back
Weeds: Cigarettes
What a bum trip: Something did not go right or bad drug experience.
What a gas!: What fun!
What-say: An expression
What’s happening?: A greeting,
What’s the deal?: What is happening
What’s Your Bag?: Do you have a problem or what do you do
Wheels: A car
Whiz kid: Intelligent
Wicked: Extraordinarily good
Wig: The mind
Wig out: To lose
Wipe-out: Fell off of surf board
Wiped out: Exhausted, drained
Wow: Fantastic
Woody Wagon: A wood-sided station wagon used by surfers to drive to and from the beach

xoxo – hugs and kisses

You take care of the hot dogs and I’ll take care of the orange drinks: You do your part and I’ll do mine; or mind your own business
Yuck: expression of disgust

Zap: Wipe
Zilch: Zero
Zit: Pimple
Zot: Zero; nothing

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