Bet You Didn’t Know These 20 Slang Words Started with the Beatniks
We still say many of these!
The term beatnik was coined in 1958 after the launch of Sputnik satellite and the media coverage that followed. This was one year after Jack Kerouac published On the Road, the seminal beatnik novel. But, the beatniks had been going strong since the 1940s (when the term beat generation was coined by Kerouac) and back then they referred to themselves as hipsters.
Many of the terms originally revolved around jazz, something lots of beatniks were passionate about. Hipster lingo was quickly becoming part of many young people’s vocabulary in the 1950s. But, these phrases had actually been invented by the beatniks years before.
20) Angel (noun):
the person who pays the bill
19) Bad news (adjective):
someone who is disappointing
18) Bug (verb):
to annoy someone
17) Can the lip (phrase):
stop talking back
16) Chick (noun):
a woman
15) Cooking (verb):
to have performed well, to be on fire on the stage
14) Cool it (phrase):
to slow down or clam down
13) Dig (verb):
to understand or enjoy something
12) Dixie fried (adjective):
to be intoxicated or drunk
11) Flick (noun):
a movie
10) Fuzz (noun):
the police or FBI
9) Get your kicks (phrase):
to have enjoyed something thoroughly
8) Ginchiest (adjective):
the best or greatest
7) Horn (noun):
the telephone
6) Juice (noun):
liquor
5) Make the scene (phrase):
to be in with the cool crowd
4) Off the wall (verb):
far out or unusual
3) Swinging (verb):
having a good time
2) Shades (noun):
sunglasses
1) X-ray eyes (phrase):
smart, insightful, to see through a mystery or plot
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