Daddy-O! - DEFINE the FIFTIES: Slang Terms from Auto Parts to Women and everything in between!

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Cool Fifties Slang

Edd Brynes as Gerald Lloyd "Kookie" Kookson III on 77 Sunset Strip just personified cool. He had a lingo all of his own and because his character was so popular, we hung on his every word. And imitated him. Below are some classic expressions from Kookie Talk.
scroll down for 50s slang.

Antsville	A place full of people
Chick in skins	Woman in a fur coat
Front burner	Current crisis
Germsville	An illness - Buzzed by germsville means put in the hospital
Ginchiest	Coolest
Heels on fire	In a hurry
International intrigue dodge	Private eye business
Lighting up the tilt sign	Lying
Long green	Money
Mushroom people	People who come out at night to play
Smog in the noggin'	Memory loss
Stable the horses	Park the cars
Washington	A dollar

More Cool Fifties Slang

Agitate the Gravel - To leave (hot-rodders)
Ankle-biter - A child
Ape Used with go - to explode or be really mad
Are you writing a book? - You're asking too many questions

Baby - Cute girl, term of address for either sex
Back seat bingo - Necking in a car
Bad news - Depressing person
Bash - Great party
Bent eight - a V-8 engine (hot-rodders)
Big Daddy - An older person
Big tickle - Really funny
Bit - An act
Blast - A good time
Blow off - To defeat in a race (hot-rodders)
Bobbed - Shortened
Boss - Great
Bread - Money
Bug "You bug me" - to bother
Burn rubber - To accelerate hard and fast (hot-rodders)

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Cast an eyeball - To look
Cat - A hip person (Beats)
Chariot - Car (Beats)
Cherry - Originally, an unaltered car. Later, anything attractive (hot-rodders, originally)
Chrome-plated - Dressed up (hot-rodders, originally)
Circled - Married
Classy chassis - Great body
Cloud 9 - Really happy
Clutched - Rejected
Clyde - Term of address, usually for a normal person (Beats)
Cook, cookin' - Doing it well
Cool - Indefinable quality that makes something or someone extraordinary
Cool it - Relax, settle down
Cooties - Imaginary infestations of the truly un-cool
Cranked - Excited (Beats)
Crazy "Like crazy,man" - Implies an especially good thing
Cream - Originally, to dent a car. Later, to badly damage (hot-rodders, originally)
Cruisin' for a bruisin' - Looking for trouble
Cube - A normal person
Cut the gas - Be quiet!
Cut out - Leave

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Daddy-O - Term of address (Beats)
D.D.T. (Drop Dead Twice) - Response: What, and look like you?
Deuce - A 1932 Ford (hot-rodders)
Dibs - A claim - as in "got dibs" on that seat
Dig - To understand; to approve
Dolly - Cute girl
Don't have a cow - Don't get so excited
Drag - (hot-rodders) A short car race; (Beats) A bore
Duck Butt or D.A. - Hairstyle of greasers where hair in back is combed to the middle, then with end of comb, make a middle part.

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Earthbound - Reliable
Epistle - Letter
Eyeball - Look around

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Fake Out - A bad date
Fast - Someone who was sexually active
Fat City - A great thing or place; Happy
Fire Up - Start your engine (hot-rodders)
Flat out - Fast as you can
Flat-top - Men's hairstyle. A crewcut which is flat across the top
Flick - A movie
Flip - To get very excited
Flip-top - A convertible car
Floor it - Push the accelerator to the floor (hot-rodders)
Fracture - To amuse
Fream - Someone who doesn't fit in
Frosted - Angry

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Get Bent! - Disparaging remark as in "drop dead"
Get with it - Understand
Gig - Work, job (Beats)
Go ape - Get very excited
Go for pinks - A drag race where the stakes are the car's pink slip (hot-rodders)
Goof - Someone who makes mistakes
Goopy - Messy
Goose it - Accelerate the car fully (hot-rodders)
Greaser - A guy with tons of grease in his hair, which later came to describe an entire group of people. Yes, John Travolta in Grease.
Grody - Sloppy, messy or dirty

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Hang - As in "hang out" which means to do very little
Haul ass - Drive very fast (hot-rodders)
Heat - Police (Beats)
Hep - With it, cool. Someone who knows the situation.
Hip - Someone who is cool, in the know. Very good.
Hipster - Same as above
Hopped up - A car modified for speed (hot-rodders)
Horn - Telephone
Hottie - A very fast car (hot-rodders)

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Illuminations - Good ideas, thoughts
In orbit - In the know
Ivy Leaguer - Pants style. Also any person who attended an Ivy League college

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Jacked Up - Car with raised rear end. (hot-rodders)
Jacketed - Going steady
Jelly Roll - Men's hair combed up and forward on both sides, brought together in the middle of the forehead.
Jets - Smarts, brains

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Kick - A fun or good thing; Also, a fad
Kill - To really impress
Knuckle sandwich - A fist in the face
Kookie - Nuts, in the nicest possible way

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Later, also later, gator - Goodbye. See ya later, alligator. Response: after while crocodile.
Lay a patch - To accelerate so rapidly that you leave a patch of rubber on the road.
Lay on - To give (Beats)
Lighter - A crew cut
Like crazy; like wow - Really good, better than cool

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Machine - A car (hot-rodders)
Made in the shade - Success guaranteed
Make out - A kissing session
Make the scene - To attend an event or activity
Meanwhile, back at the ranch - From TV Westerns. Usually used to get a storyteller back on track.
Mirror warmer - A piece of pastel fabric (often cashmere) tied around the rear view mirror. A 50s version of the Medieval wearing your lady's colors.
Most - A in "the most" - high praise usually of the opposite sex

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Nerd - Same as now. Bill Gates without the money.
Nest - A hair-do
Nod - Drift off to sleep
Nosebleed - As in hey, nosebleed - hey, stupid. Not a compliment!
No sweat - No problem
Nowhere - Opposite of cool. Nowheresville was a boring, bad place to be. (Beats)
Nuggets - Loose change

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Odd ball - Someone a bit off the norm
Off the line - Start of a drag race (hot-rodders)
On the stick - Pulled together. Bright, prepared...

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Pad - Home
Paper shaker - Cheerleader or Pom Pom girl
Party pooper - No fun at all
Passion Pit - Drive-in movie theatre
Peepers - Glasses
Pile up Z's - Get some sleep
Pooper - No fun at all
Pop the Clutch - Release the clutch pedal quickly so as to get a fast start
Pound - Beat up
Punch it - Step on the gas (hot-rodders)
Put down - To say bad things about someone

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Radioactive - Very popular
Rag Top - A convertible car
Rap - To tattle on someone (Beats)
Rattle your cage - Get upset
Raunchy - Messy or gross in some other way
Razz my berries - Excite or impress me
Real gone - Very much in love. Also unstable. Hmm, there's a difference?
Reds - The Communists
Righto - Okay
Rock - A diamond
Rocket - A car (hot-rodders)
Rod - A car (hot-rodders)
Royal shaft - Badly or unfairly treated

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Scream - Go fast
Screamer - A hot rod
Shoot low, they're riding Shetlands - Be careful
Shot down - Failed
Shuck, shuckster - A deceiver, liar or cheat
Sides - Vinyl records
Sing - To tattle or inform on someone (Beats)
Sounds - Music
Souped up - A car modified to go fast
Spaz - Someone who is uncoordinated. A clutz.
Split - Leave
Square - A regular, normal person. A conformist.
Stacked - A woman with large er, ah...you know, well endowed.
Stack up - To wreck a car (hotrodder)
Submarine races - While waiting for the submarines to race, which might take quite awhile :>) couples found creative ways of killing the time.
Subterranean - A hipster. Used by both Ginsberg and Kerouac. (Beats)

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Tank - A large sedan (usually driven by parents)
Tear ass - Drive (or go) very fast
That's close - Something wrong or not true
Think Fast - Usually said right before someone threw something at you
Threads - Clothes
Tight - Good friends
Total - To completely destroy, most often in reference to a car

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Unreal - Exceptional

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Wail - Go fast
Wazoo - Your rear end
Weed - A cigarette
Wet rag - Someone who's just no fun
Word from the bird - The truth (Beats)
What's buzzin, cuzzin - What's new?
What's you tale, nightingale - What's the story?
Wheelie - Left the car's front wheels off the ground by rapid acceleration

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