Saturday, May 18th
6pm - 11pm
Arroyo Seco Golf Course
1920s Slang
A
• Ankle: 1) (n) Woman, 2) (v) To walk
B
• Babe: Woman
• Beef: Problem
• Bee's Knees: 1) An extraordinary person, thing, idea; the ultimate, 2) Prohibition-era cocktail featuring gin, lemon juice and honey
• Behind the eight-ball: In a difficult position, in a tight spot
• Big Cheese, Big Shot - The boss; someone of importance and influence
• Big house: Jail
• Blind Tiger: Another name for a speakeasy. The custom of illegal drinking establishments were to display stuffed tigers to alert potential patrons to the availability of illicit alcohol after hours. The "tigers" were "blind" because the authorities, at least officially, did not know they existed.
• Blow: Leave
• Bluenose: A prude
• Break it up: Stop that; quit the nonsense
• Breeze: To leave, go; also breeze off: get lost
• Bub: Used as a term of familiar address, especially for a man or boy
• Bulls: Plainclothes railroad cops; uniformed police; prison guards
• Bum's rush, To get the: To be kicked out
• Bump gums: To talk about nothing worthwhile
• Bunny, as in "Don't be a bunny": Don't be stupid
• Butts: Cigarettes
• Buy a drink: To pour a drink
C
• C: $100, a pair of Cs = $200
• Cabbage: Money
• Caboose: Jail (from "calaboose," which derives from calabozo, the Spanish word for
"jail")
• Canary: Woman singer
• Carry a Torch: Suffering from an unrequited love
• Cat: Man
• Cat's Meow: Something splendid or stylish; similar to bee's knees
• Cat's Pajamas: "I think yer the cat's pajamas" - term of endearment translated in today's
terms as "I think you are really really cool"
• Century: $100
• Charleston: Social jazz dance highly popular in the 1920s and frequently revived
• Chew: Eat
• Chin: Conversation; chinning: talking
• Chump: Person marked for a con or a gullible person
• Copper: 1) Policeman, 2) Time off for good behavior
• Cush: Money (a cushion, something to fall back on)
• Cutting a rug: To dance with such infectious energy and rhythm that it's as if you're slicing through the dance floor
D
• Dame: Woman
• Diapers, as in "Pin your diapers on": Clothes, get dressed
• Dib: Share (of the proceeds)
• Dip the bill: Have a drink
• Dish: Pretty woman
• Dive: A low-down, cheap sort of place
• Dogs: Feet
• Doll, dolly: Woman
• Dough: Money
• Drum: Speakeasy
• Dump: Roadhouse, club; or, more generally, any place
• Dust out: Leave, depart
E
• Egg: Man
• Eggs in the coffee: Easy, a piece of cake, okay, all right
F
• Fade: Go away, get lost
• Fella: A man
• Fin: $5 bill
• Flaming Youth: The male counterpart to a flapper
• Flapper: A stylish, brash young woman with short skirts and shorter hair
• Flat Tire: A dull-witted or disappointing date.
• Flop: 1) Go to bed, 2) As in "The racket's flopped" - fallen through, not worked out
• Fuzz: Police
G
• Gal: Woman
• Gams: Legs (especially a woman's)
• Gate, as in "Give her the gate": The door, as in leave
• Gee: Man
• Geetus: Money
• Get dolled up: To make oneself attractive by dressing up smartly and, often, ostentatiously with fancy or stylish clothes, usually for a special occasion
• Get Sore (at someone): Get mad
• Giggle juice: Liquor
• Giggle Water: Liquor
• Gin mill: Bar
• Gink: Man
• Girlie: Woman
• Glad rags: Fancy clothes
• Go over the edge with the rams: To get far too drunk
• Goofy: Crazy
• Goose: Man
• Grand: $1000
• Great Gatsby, The: A 1925 novel by American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald. Set in 1922 on Long Island, near New York City, the novel provides a critical social history of Prohibition-era America during the Jazz Age. The fictional narrative fully renders that period - known for its jazz music, economic prosperity, flapper culture, libertine mores, rebellious youth, and ubiquitous speakeasies.
• Gum-shoe: Detective; also gumshoeing = detective work
• Guy: A man
H
• Hack: Taxi
• Hash house: A cheap restaurant
• Have the bees: To be rich
• Heap: Car
• Heat: Police
• Heebie-Jeebies: The jitters
• Hinky: Suspicious
• Hitting on all eight: In good shape, going well (refers to eight cylinders in an engine)
• Hooch: Liquor
• Hoofer: Dancer
• Hoosegow: Jail
• Horn: Telephone
• Hot: Stolen
• Hotsy-Totsy: Pleasing
I
• Ice: Diamonds
J
• Jack: Money
• Jalopy: An old car
• Jam: Trouble, as in "in a jam"
• Jane: A woman
• Java: Coffee
• Jaw: Talk
• Joe: Coffee, as in "a cup of joe"
• Joint: Place, as in "my joint"
• Juice joint: A speakeasy; night club
K
• Kale: Money
• Keen: Attractive or appealing
L
• Large: $1,000; twenty large would be $20,000
• Law, the: The police
• Looker: Pretty woman
• Lousy with: To have lots of
M
• Mac: A man
• Made: Recognized
• Mob: Gang (not necessarily Mafia)
• Moll: Girlfriend
• Monicker: Name
N
• Nailed: Caught by the police
• Newsie: Newspaper vendor
• Nibble one: To have a drink
• Nix on (something): No to (something)
• Number: A person, can be either a man or a woman
O
• Out on the roof, To be: To drink a lot, to be drunk
• Oyster fruit: Pearls
P
• Pal: A man
• Palooka: Man, probably a little stupid
• Paw: Hand
• Peepers: Eyes
• Pinch: An arrest, capture
• Pipes: Throat
• Put down: Drink
R
• Rags: Clothes
• Rate: To be good, to count for something
• Rats and mice: Dice, i.e. craps
• Ritzy: Elegant
• Rub elbows: To associate or mingle with (famous or prominent people, etc.)
• Rumble, the: The news
S
• Sawbuck: $10 bill (a double sawbuck is a $20 bill)
• Scatter, as in "And don't bother to call your house peeper and send him up to the
scatter": 1) Saloon or speakeasy, 2) A hideout, a room or lodging
• Schnozzle: Nose
• Scram out: Leave
• Scratch: Money
• Shine: Moonshine, bootleg liquor
• Sister: Woman
• Skirt: Woman
• Smell from the barrel, Have a: Have a drink
• Speakeasy: An illicit bar selling bootleg liquor
• Spiffy: Looking elegant
• Spill: Talk, inform; spill it = tell me
• Spinach: Money
• Square: Honest; on the square: telling the truth
• Squeeze: A female companion; girlfriend (frequently used in underworld circles)
• Stuck On: Having a crush on
• Sugar: Money
• Swanky: Ritzy
• Swell: 1) Wonderful, 2) A rich man
T
• Take it on the heel and toe: Leave
• Take on: Eat
• Take the bounce: To get kicked out (here, of a hotel)
• Tiger milk: Some sort of liquor
• Tip a few: To have a few drinks
• Torcher: Torch singer
• Two bits: $25, or 25 cents
U
• Under glass: In jail
• Up-and-down, as in "to give something the up-and-down": A look
W
• Wingding: A noisy, exciting, wild or lavish celebration or party
• Wire, as in "What's the wire on them?": News, "What information do you have about
them?"
• Wise head: A smart person
• Word on the street: The rumor or news going around; what people are saying
Y
• Ya Follow: Do you understand?
• Yap: Mouth
• Yard: $100