Can You Speak Beatnik?
"Hey man...that cat is hip! Like, the cat is claws sharp and everything plus!"
Beatniks...man they were cool. They hung out in coffee shops, read poetry, experimented with wacky tobacky, played the bongos, were into the music with the beat (back then it was jazz...cool jazz, man)...wait...we still have people that do some of those things. They've just changed the way they look, talk and get into their music. We just call them something different now. Gen X, Millenials, Boomers, Goths, etc.
It's funny how slang terms come and go. What meant one thing years ago slowly comes to mean something else over time. The "beatnik" era had several phrases like that, and if you didn't know how to talk the talk...well, "hey man...you must be off the cob." Huh?
Here are some phrases that USED to be "hip".
Hmmmm....probably a good thing no one really speaks "beatnik" these days.
1. A shape in a drape
A well-dressed person. "Usually she just wears jeans, but she sure is a shape in a drape in that dress."
2. Bright disease
To know too much. "He has bright disease. Make sure he doesn't rat us out."
3. Claws sharp
Being well-informed on a number of subjects. "Reading Mental Floss keeps your claws sharp."
4. Dixie fried
Drunk. "It's Friday and the eagle flies tonight. Let's go get dixie fried."
5. Everything plus
Better than good-looking. "He wasn't just built, he was everything plus."
6. Focus your audio
Listen carefully. "Shut your trap and focus your audio. This is important."
7. Gin mill cowboy
A bar regular. (A gin mill is a bar.) "Cliff Clavin was the _flossiest gin mill cowboy of all time."
8. Hanging paper
Paying with forged checks. "I hope that chick who stole my purse last week goes to jail for hanging paper."
9. Interviewing your brains
Thinking. "I can see you're interviewing your brains, so I'll leave you alone."
10. Jungled up
Having a place to live, or specific living arrangements. "All I know is that he's jungled up with that guy he met at the gin mill last month."
