DC-area teen slang (1957)

Fri Sep 2 05:50:41 UTC 2005

On Thu, 1 Sep 2005 18:00:15 -0400, Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

>"Hep" was just becoming unhip in DC in 1957?! "Take it easy, greasy!
>There's a fungus among us!" was a common funny saying of no particular
>meaning among black kids in St. Louis ca.1952. "Fruit boots," not
>"boats," were what were "kicky" among white kids post 1950.

It does seem like those kids in the DC area were a little behind the
curve, slangwise. Or perhaps the reporter wasn't getting the latest 411.

Speaking of high-school slang as represented by adult observers, see
today's "For Better Or For Worse":

http://news.yahoo.com/comics/uclickcomics/20050902/cx_fb_uc/fb20050902

--Ben Zimmer