antedating (?) of "a square" (bore, pest) March 15, 1939

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Fri, Sep 5, 2008 at 7:53 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:
>
> _Square_. A bore, a pest (_syn_.: jeff, icky). After all, a square often
> deserves to be
>
> _Igged_. Ignored. To be sure, you can't always igg a square, but you can try.
> For one thing, a jeff is not the type of gate who takes a chick out and
>
> _Kills her_. Shows her a good time. ...
>
> American Slang: A Glossary for Elder Readers ["in Harlem...Darkest New York"],
> in Punch March 15, 1939, 282-3, here 283 col. 1.

As all of these are in _The New Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary_
(1944), I'm assuming this article is derived from the first edition of
Cab's glossary, published in 1939. In the 2nd ed., "square" is defined
as "an unhep person (see icky; Jeff)."


--Ben Zimmer

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