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 1930s slang words

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JoElle
Abe F. March
Domenic Pappalardo
Richard Stanbery
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Richard Stanbery
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PostSubject: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptySun May 24, 2009 7:21 pm

What kind of slang words would we find on the street if we could go back in time to the 1930s and listen to the young people talk? Would they say things such as, "That sucks", or even "knarly" or "cool"? Did folks say cool in the 1930s?
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Domenic Pappalardo
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptySun May 24, 2009 7:35 pm

Dead duck.
Dead as a doornail.
Jive.
Uptown.
He's living the life of rilly.
The dames a flapper.
He's zoot suiter
Shut your trap.
Want a spin (drive in a car)
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Abe F. March
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptySun May 24, 2009 10:11 pm

Most of us would not know what they said in the 1930's except from hearsay.
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Domenic Pappalardo
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptySun May 24, 2009 10:28 pm

adults around us spoke
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JoElle
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptySun May 24, 2009 11:59 pm

I was born in the 60s. Don't know any slang first hand.

Here's a website that may help:

http://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/?term=leave&beginEra=1920&endEra=1940&clean=true&submitsend=Search


I've watched all the Thin Man movies with William Powell and Myrna Loy. I believe the first few took place in the 30s and the last few in the 40s. There was quite a bit of slang used in them. Ah, just watch them for the fun of it. Cute couple.
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Dick Stodghill
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyMon May 25, 2009 6:54 am

Yes, they said "cool."
They (we) said "hep."
They said, "swell." All the time.
They said every four-letter word heard today. They did not say them in front of females or their elders.
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Dick Stodghill
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyMon May 25, 2009 8:36 am

Here's a few more, Richard:
Doozie - "It's a doozie," meaning it's the best, like a Duesenberg automobile.
Kid and kiddo. "She's a good kid." "She's a peach." When talking to a girl it was kiddo, baby, honey, doll, sweetheart. The latter sometimes meant she wasn't a sweetheart.
Pal, buddy - Buddy usually was sincere, but not always. Pal often meant he wasn't. It was all in the inflection.
Big time - a big time operator was a phony. Big time itself meant it was good, the best.
Show - movie. "Go to the show."

The "show" - movies from the 1930s will tell you a lot, especially the down to earth, tough guy films. So will the books of Hammett, Chandler, Cain and other tough guy writers. In general, though, talk in the 1930s wasn't much different than today other than short-term expressions coined by kids thinking they are something new. Usually they are not.
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Richard Stanbery
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyMon May 25, 2009 8:36 pm

Oh, I learned something. I didnt know they said "cool", and the inflection thing with Buddy/Pal is very interesting.
But, did they say "No way"?
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alice
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyMon May 25, 2009 8:50 pm

When did they say "Blow me down!" when something surprised them?
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zadaconnaway
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyMon May 25, 2009 9:11 pm

When they were a sailor, maybe?
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Carol Troestler
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyTue May 26, 2009 7:01 am

I was reading parts of Catcher in the Rye yesterday. It was published in the forties, written in the first person, and has lots of slang. That book might help in your search, Richard.

Carol
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Richard Stanbery
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyTue May 26, 2009 8:42 am

Catcher in the Rye. I never thought of that one (duh). Thanks for the tip!
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Dick Stodghill
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyTue May 26, 2009 10:35 am

Popeye said "Blow me down."

We said, "No way, Jose" or however you spell hoe-zay.

In the early 1930s some people were still saying "Vo -vo-de-oh-doe" from the 1927 song "Crazy Words, Crazy Tune."

"Banana oil" meant handing someone a line.

People were creeps or jerks, broads or babes.

Something good was "crackerjack."

"Cats" or "Cat's meow" meant something good.

"Crummy" meant bad.

A "hot tamale" was a hot girl.

"Flivver" was a Model-T Ford.

"coffin nails" and "cancer sticks" were cigarettes.

"Buster" was a derogatory name.

"Pearlies" or "pearly whites" were teeth.

"schnoz" or "schnozola" was a nose.

"gams" were a woman's legs.

Slang was more common back then than it is today. Much of it dated back decades but was still in use in the 1930s. You could fill a hundred page book with slang relating to sex.
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Richard Stanbery
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyWed May 27, 2009 10:25 am

What is a definition of "Vo de oh doh"? Is this something like "having all to do with", as my Grandma used to say as an inferrence to someone who had been promiscuous?
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Dick Stodghill
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyWed May 27, 2009 12:48 pm

I don't think there is a definition. In the song where it originated, the singer is being driven crazy by the kid next door who is always playing music on his record player and singing those words. That's all it means. Frank Crumit had the best version of the song "Crazy words, crazy tune."
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Richard Stanbery
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyWed May 27, 2009 4:20 pm

Cool Beans, Dick!
I think that I'm going to be researching the 1930s for the next little bit. This era had a lot of stuff going on that bears more concentration. I think that there were some bigtime operators and some funky stuff going down back then.

This is neat stuff!
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JoElle
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyThu May 28, 2009 3:24 pm

Good luck Richard.

I hope you checked that link I sent you ... it have a pretty long list of 30s words and their definition.

Here's another pretty good list:

http://www.paper-dragon.com/1939/slang.html
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Dick Stodghill
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PostSubject: Re: 1930s slang words   1930s slang words EmptyThu May 28, 2009 3:43 pm

Got a kick out of your lists, JoElle. Some were familiar and commonplace, others I never heard. I only caught a couple that were wrong. One was shamus = detective. A private detective only.
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