Teen slang (1952): "nerd", "pashpie", "book gook", "jizzy", etc.

[Benjamin Zimmer]

[This message was originally posted via the Linguist List's mirror site,
cc'ed to Douglas Wilson.  It hasn't appeared on the listserv, though
Wilson's kind response has, so I'm resending it to the UGA address as I
see now I should have done.]

On Thu, 5 Aug 2004 20:55:09 -0400, Douglas G. Wilson <douglas at NB.NET> wrote:

>Here is "nerd" and here are some other items, straight from St. Joe.
>
>----------
>
>_Herald-Press_ (St. Joseph MI), 23 June 1952: p. 14, cols. 7-8:
>
><<
>
>To 'Clue Ya' To Be 'George' And Not A 'Nerd' Or 'Scurve'
[...]
>The idea of dating a "pashpie" is really quite appealing when you know
that a pashpie is a dreamy gal. Saying she is a "wheel" means, of course,
that she is an important person.
[...]
>To be "cool" is the desire of every teen-ager but the title of "book
gook" (book worm) is to be shunned.
[...]
>One of the things often heard but seldom understood, even by the teeners,
is "Chop chop, let's get cutting," and a "hubcap" is a "flash in the
pan."

It's interesting to note that several of the slang terms mentioned in this
article ("book gook", "wheel", "hubcap") also appeared in a short 1952
film called "Young Man's Fancy", sponsored by the Edison Electric
Institute.  (Fans of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" may be familiar with
this, as it was shown in a 1994 episode.)  The film can be viewed on the
Web via the Prelinger Archives:

Part 1: <http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?id=1244>
Part 2: <http://www.archive.org/movies/details-db.php?id=1245>

The film is designed to interest consumers in new electrical appliances,
but it does so by telling the story of a teenager named Judy Adams who
tries to attract her brother Bob's friend, a bookish engineer.  Judy's
speech is laden with teen slang (or at least the filmmakers' idea of teen
slang), much to her mother's consternation.

Below are selections of the dialogue, with the times that they appear in
the clips.

----------

Part 1:

(2:45)  Mrs. Adams reads a letter from Bob, letting the family know that
he's bringing home his friend, Alexander Phipps.

     Judy: For Pete's sake, wouldn't you know that goon brother of
        mine would bring home something that lives under a rock?
     Mrs. Adams: Judy, I do wish you'd speak English like normal human
        beings.  Besides, I'm sure Mr. Phipps is a very nice young man.
     Judy: I know, but just because Bob is a book gook is no reason he
        has to bring another one home with him.

(4:15) Bob and Alex arrive.  Judy sees Alex outside the window and gets
excited.

     Judy: Jeepers, is he cool!  Really cool!

(9:00) Judy talks to her friend Sally on the phone about Alex.

     Judy: Did he arrive?  Man, he's postively frantic!  A real cool
        Jonah.  Tall, good-looking, nothing at all like the drips
        around school.  Uh-huh.  And he drives a real shafty [?]
        convertible.  He really has it.  Oh, and he looks at me, I get,
you know, squishy.

(13:50) Judy complains to her mom about Alex's lack of interest in her.

     Judy: From now on, as far as I'm concerned, he's just a
        schnuckel.
     Mrs. Adams: And what may I ask is a schnuckel?
     Judy: Something to be left strictly alone.

Part 2:

(0:15) Alex offers to put a record on the phonograph.

     Judy: Pick something groovy, Alex!
     (Judy gets up to dance, but Alex puts on classical music.  Judy
      disappointedly draws the "square" symbol with her fingers.)

(3:30) Judy and Sally fold laundry and talk about Alex.

     Judy: Well, at first I thought he was real gone.  Really a
        big wheel.
     Sally: Well, it isn't the first time a big wheel turned out to
        be just a hubcap.

----------

"Schnuckel" is an interesting term, apparently a variant of Yiddish
"schnook".  The OED2 entry for "schnook" includes this citation:

     1943 S. J. PERELMAN Let. 7 Apr. in G. Marx Groucho Lett.
     (1967) 190 It's the story of a small schnükel of a barber
     who accidentally brings a statue of Venus to life.

I have no idea why Judy calls Alex a "cool Jonah", though.  (It baffled
the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" guys too-- they wondered if it meant
Alex had been swallowed by a whale.)  Any thoughts?


--Ben Zimmer