I came across this site from Dictionary.com on my phone, but it doesn't seem to come up on my computer so I am having trouble linking to it. Anyway, it had these 15 words from the 60s. If you are that old (I am!), see if you remember any of them:
Cool or squaresville The Establishment (sound familiar?) Flower Power The Heat (or the Fuzz) Cat (hip male, often a jazz muscian) Truckin' Groovy Square Mop top (Beatles) Dough (bread), meaning money Bogart (to keep to yourself) Thongs (flip flops) Mellow Hacked (hacked off, meaning angered) Righteous (super cool, or right on!)
[Edited to fix typo of "thangs," instead of "thongs." Thanks, Geoff!]This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,
September 28, 2017, 21:11
sattva
I remember most of them. There were probably regional differences. Cool and neat meant the same thing back then. I am surprised "neat" wasn't on the list. Then, it was "hot" and eventually "awesome" over time. Each word had a subtle difference, but the underlying meanings were similar.
September 29, 2017, 05:45
<Proofreader>
The 60s are hazy to me but I recall "split", as in to leave.
September 29, 2017, 08:54
Geoff
"Thangs?" I remember thongs. Are thongs the thangs you mean?
September 30, 2017, 14:49
tinman
Yeah, Geoff. Thongs are now called flip flops. I still call them thongs. Wikipedia:
quote:
The term flip-flop has been used in American and British English since the 1970s to describe the thong or no-heel-strap sandal. It is an onomatopoeia of the sound made by the sandals when walking in them.[1] They are called thongs in Australia,[2] jandals (originally a trademarked name derived from "Japanese sandals") in New Zealand,[3] slops in South Africa[4] and tsinelas in the Philippines (or, in some Visayan localities, "smagul", from the word smuggled).
This footwear has a number of other names around the world. In India and Pakistan, flip-flops are commonly known as hawai chappal.[5] The Japanese wear similarly designed, traditional straw sandals known as zōri.[6] Throughout the world, they are known by a variety of other names, including dép tông or dép xỏ ngón in Vietnam, chinelos in Brazil, japonki in Poland, dacas in Somalia, sayonares (σαγιονάρες) in Greece, Schlapfen in Austria, slippers in Hawaii, Trinidad and Tobago and the Netherlands, infradito in Italy, djapanki (джапанки) in Bulgaria,"charlie wote" in Ghana and [i]vietnamki in Russia and Ukraine.[4][7]
Geta are Japanese wooden shoes resembling thongs. My brother was stationed in Japan in the late 50s or early 60s and he brought me a pair. He called them getas, though apparently the plural of geta can be either geta or getas.
October 01, 2017, 17:05
Kalleh
Yes, it was a typo, Geoff. I'll correct it and give you credit for finding it. I called flip flops (stupid name in my mind) thongs once with my kids and they were so embarrassed. I also had the audacity to call a hot dog (to me a hot dog is the sausage and bun, but not to my kids) once a wiener and once again got thoroughly criticized. <sigh> I've got it now - flip-flops and hot dog (sausage seems so general to me).
Sattva, don't "cool" and "neat" mean the same thing?