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Jul 16, 2021 · The slang of the 1950s reflected the mood of the decade. It is fair to say that 1950s slang was a vernacular that became a primal language for teenagers who sought independence and liberation while also continuing to reflect the traditional values and lifestyle of the times.
- Mary Gormandy White
- Staff Writer
Dec 8, 2017 · A millennial will use a slang acronym like CRS (shorthand for "can't remember stuff"), but a 50s hip cat would say he's got "smog in the noggin." Crazy, right? Well, here are 20 other slang terms from the 50s that used to be common but have become extinct in the 21st century.
- Michele Debczak
- Beatnik. These days, the term beatnik defines the most prominent subculture of the 1950s, but the word wasn’t coined until 1958. That year, columnist Herb Caen added -nik (a suffix derived from the satellite Sputnik, which launched in 1957) to beat to describe members of the Beat generation.
- Cool. Originally part of African American Language (a.k.a. African American Vernacular, or AAVE), cool emerged from the jazz scene in the 1940s. In the 1950s, it became mainstream with the youth of America.
- Backseat Bingo. The 1950s saw the explosion of American car culture, and with it came a wave of new car-related slang terms. Backseat bingo referred to hanky panky that took place inside a vehicle.
- Pad. Though pad can refer to any place of residence today, it had unsavory connotations in the mid-20th century. A 1950s beatnik may have used the term when referring to a place to crash, or a room to use (or recover from having used) drugs.
Apr 28, 2024 · Phrases like “cool,” “groovy,” and “far out” have become timeless expressions of approval or excitement. The nostalgia for 1950s culture, fueled by movies like “Grease” and TV shows like “ Happy Days ,” has kept these slang terms alive in popular culture.
Aug 10, 2021 · If you look at the slang that was popularized during the 1950s, though, you see a more interesting story. Look no further, because we collected some of the ginchiest 1950s slang phrases. Popular 1950s Slang That’s Worth Knowing Ankle Biter. Meaning: a child, particularly a misbehaving one
Sep 29, 2023 · Step into a time machine and journey back to the fabulous 1950s, an era of poodle skirts, jukeboxes, and greaser culture. The 50s was also a decade that birthed its own unique language and...
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Mar 16, 2016 · If fashion can come back, why not slang? The vernacular of teens in the 1950s was as colorful as their poodle skirts. Seeing how we air television shows from the Eisenhower Era, series like The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis and Adventures of Superman, you might come across some of these terms.
