A Far-Out Introduction to 1960s Slang Terms & What They Mean

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Learn to talk like a cool cat from the ’60s
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Turn back your calendars: you’ve arrived in the nifty ’60s, an era in which the slang was all about flower power and rebellion against “the Man.” To help you wrap your head around this funky lingo, we’ve compiled a primo guide to all things ’60s slang, from general terms to experiences, sayings, and even insults. Ready to dig into all the creative expressions coined in the ’60s? Then keep reading—you’re sure to have a gas!

The Best of 1960s Slang

  • A gas - Having a fun time
  • Bag - Someone’s scene or taste; could also mean “steal”
  • Beat feet - To leave in a hurry (usually to get away from something unpleasant)
  • Dig it - To understand or approve of an idea (“You dig it?”)
  • Far out - An expression of amazement or approval
  • Groovy - Super fun or cool
  • Lay it on me - Telling someone to give information or their thoughts on a subject
Section 1 of 10:

General Slang From the ’60s

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  1. Let’s begin with some general slang words and phrases that cover everything from objects (glasses, cash, TV) to actions (like stealing or having a casual chat with friends). Check out these miscellaneous—but totally creative—slang terms from the ’60s:
    • Ape - To be angry, or explode with anger (phrased “To go ape”) [1]
    • Bag - Someone’s scene or taste; could also mean to steal something
    • Barf - To throw up
    • Bird - Middle finger, as in “to give someone the bird”; it can also be an aircraft
    • Bogart - To “hog” something (monopolize it or take it for yourself so others can’t use it)
    • Boob tube - Television
    • Boogie board - A short surfboard
    • Bread - Money
    • Brew - Beer
    • Bug - To bother someone (“You’re bugging me!”)
    • Bummed out - Depressed
    • Cherry - Something in mint or perfect condition
    • Choners - Boxer shorts worn by surfers
    • Chop - To cut someone down verbally
    • Church-key - A device to open a beer or soda can (before pop-tops)
    • D.A. - A hairstyle that was combed a certain way (short for “Duck’s a**)
    • Deuce - A peace symbol (putting two fingers up)
    • Dig it - To understand or approve of an idea (“You dig it?”)
    • Easy - Goodbye (“Easy, man!”)
    • Five-finger discount - A euphemism for stealing things
    • Flick - A movie
    • Flip flops - Sandals with a flat sole and Y-shaped strap
    • Funky - Neat or cool; also describes something that went bad (“This cheese is funky”)
    • Fuzz - Police or law enforcement
    • Gig - A job, particularly a musical performance
    • Golden - In perfect or pristine condition (“Stay golden!”)
    • Grass - Marijuana
    • Grody - Dirty, gross, or grimy
    • Hook - Steal
    • Horn - The telephone
    • Kibosh - To put a stop to something
    • Lame - To be uncool or disappointing
    • On cloud 9 - To be very happy
    • Peepers - Eyeglasses
    • Peggers - Jeans with tight calves and ankles
    • Primo - First class
    • Rap - To talk, have a conversation with someone
    • Scratch - Money, cash
    • Score - To obtain something (“I scored concert tickets!”)
    • Shades - Sunglasses
    • Shafted - Cheated or humiliated
    • Tennies - Tennis shoes
    • Threads - Clothing
    • Wiz - To urinate
    • Zilch - Zero, nothing
    • Zit - Pimple
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Section 2 of 10:

Ways to Say “Cool” in ’60s Slang

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  1. As it turns out, there have been a lot of different ways to say “cool” for quite a long time—and, of course, “cool” itself wasn’t uncommon back in the nifty ’60s! Check out these “cool” synonyms, including a few you might recognize from today’s slang lexicon:
    • Ace - Cool
    • Boss - Excellent or cool
    • Choice - Cool or “twitchin’”
    • Clean - Exceptional or awesome-looking
    • Cool - “Cool” was a slang term in the 1960s.
    • Copacetic - Very good or all right (as in, everything is okay here, no problems)
    • Fab - Short for “fabulous”
    • Far out - An expression of amazement or approval
    • Gone - A cool, groovy, or neato person (“She’s a real gone chick!”)
    • Groovy - Super fun or cool
    • Happenin’ - Popular or very active (“That restaurant is happenin’.”)
    • Hip - Anything or anyone fashionable and modern
    • Mod - An abbreviation of “modernist,” meaning stylish or contemporary
    • Neato - Nice, sharp-looking
    • Nifty - Cool
    • Outta sight - Incredibly awesome
    • Swinging - Lively or exciting
    • Twitchin’ (or B tchin’) - Awesome, cool
    • Unreal - So great it’s hard to believe (an expression of amazement)
    • Wicked - An expression of admiration
Section 3 of 10:

60s Slang for People

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  1. How do you describe someone? With colorful and descriptive slang phrases, of course. In the ’60s, there were plenty to go around—some funny and good-natured, others not so much. Take a look below to see how people were discussed (and described) in the ’60s:
    • All show and no go - Good-looking but superficial
    • Ankle biter - A small child or baby
    • Bada*s - A tough guy
    • Blasted - Drunk
    • Blitzed - Drunk [2]
    • Cat - A guy
    • Chick - A girl or woman
    • Chrome dome - A bald man
    • Cool head - Someone calm, easy-going
    • Decked out - Dressed up, wearing fancy clothes
    • Dove - An advocate for peace
    • Dropout - Someone who refuses to conform to society’s expectations
    • Dude - A geeky guy
    • Fab Four - The Beatles
    • Fine/fine as wine - Good-looking
    • Flower child - A hippie, someone who follows the hippie movement of the ’60s
    • Fox - An attractive woman
    • Freedom riders - Civil rights advocates, especially those protesting racial segregation
    • Frosted - Angry
    • Fuzz - The police
    • Gone - Under the influence of drugs
    • Gnarly - Big, difficult, mean
    • Greaser - A guy using too much grease in his hair
    • Hacked - Made someone angry, irritated
    • Hawk - Someone who supports war
    • Heat - Cops, the police
    • Hippie (hippy) - A member of the “hippie” counterculture, someone free-spirited and unorthodox
    • Hog - To take something so another person can’t use it
    • Hunk - A handsome guy
    • In the groove - Part of the popular “in-crowd”
    • Kiss off - To dismiss, to end a relationship or interaction (often abruptly)
    • Main squeeze - Primary girlfriend or boyfriend
    • Mirror warmer - A woman who looks in the mirror too much
    • Mop-top - Someone with a haircut like one of the Beatles
    • Old lady - A girlfriend or wife
    • Old man - A boyfriend or husband
    • Port holer - A sailor (on a ship)
    • Sharp - Someone or something very good-looking
    • Stacked - Someone well-endowed or built (usually a girl)
    • The man - A broad (derogatory) term for any authority figure who maintains the status quo, especially in terms of corporate business and politics
    • Ticked off - Angry, irritated, or annoyed at someone
    • Tight - To be super friendly or close to someone
    • Turn off - To repel someone (in terms of dating)
    • Unglued - Upset, angry
    • Uptight - Overly tense, unwilling to relax or enjoy life
    • Zoned out - Staring into space or deep in thought
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Section 4 of 10:

’60s Slang Insults

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  1. The ’60s had plenty of insults to go around, including some that are still in circulation today. Just be aware that most of these insults can genuinely be offensive and hurtful to others, so be careful how you use them!
    • Bozo - An idiot
    • Bummer - Someone (or something) unpleasant
    • Candya ** - A wimp or someone uncool
    • Cooties - Something uncool people had (“Don’t go over there, she totally has cooties”)
    • Dip/Dip-stick - An idiot
    • Ditz - An idiot
    • Dork - Someone uncool or idiotic
    • Downer - Someone or something that brings down the mood; not fun or cool
    • Drag - Someone boring
    • Dweeb - An uncool guy
    • Fink - A tattletale
    • Flake - Someone who is unreliable or useless
    • Kiss up - Someone who tries too hard to win approval from others
    • Pig - Derogatory term for a police officer
    • Skag/skank - A derogatory term for a girl someone thinks is unattractive
    • Skuzz - A gross person or thing
    • Skuzz bucket - Another version of “skuzz”; it can also refer to a car
    • Square - Someone old-fashioned, conventional, or uncool
    • Stuck up - Someone arrogant or conceited (acts like they’re better than others)
Section 5 of 10:

’60s Slang for Places & Travel

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  1. People in the swingin’ ’60s were seemingly on the move a lot , because there are quite a few slang terms for getting away from an area quickly (in addition to slang terms for homes and other specific locations). In fact, you might recognize a few of the terms below (like “book it” or “split”). Take a look:
    • Bad scene - An unpleasant place
    • Bean wagon - A cheap restaurant
    • Boogie - To leave unceremoniously or fast (can also refer to dancing)
    • Book (it) - Leave the area fast [3]
    • Crash - To go to bed or stay at someone else’s place
    • Digs - A home or place of residence
    • Grungy - Some place (or person) looking dirty, run-down
    • Hip - A fashionable or popular place
    • Jet - To leave somewhere quickly
    • Later - A causal goodbye (short for “See you later”)
    • Make the scene - To attend a specific event or activity
    • Pad - A home (house, apartment, or other place of residence)
    • Split - To leave, often quickly or all of a sudden
    • Sponge - To live off of someone else
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Section 6 of 10:

’60s Slang for Cars

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  1. People sure loved their cars in the ’60s…maybe a little too much, considering all the different slang terms for risky races and leaving tire marks on the road! Then again, the ’60s were all about finding ways to rebel against “the man,” which explains some of the following nifty lingo:
    • Bench racing - Talking about the speed of different cars while sitting around
    • Birth control seats - Bucket seats in a car
    • Bone yard - A junkyard or auto wrecking yard
    • Bookin’ - Going fast (typically in a car)
    • Brody - To skid half a circle in a car with the brakes locked
    • Burn rubber - To accelerate rapidly, leaving rubber and marks on the road
    • Chicken - A dangerous game in which two cars drive toward each other, with the first to swerve being “chicken”
    • Chinese fire drill - A game where four people get out of the car at a red light and change places with each other
    • Circus wagon - A car with a bad paint job, usually in bad shape
    • Cool pipes - A mellow-sounding exhaust system in a car
    • Crop duster - A car that burnt oil (leaving clouds of smoke)
    • Cruising - Driving up and down a street (looking for girls, guys, a race, or something else)
    • Drag - A short-distance car race that began when the stoplight turned green
    • Grease slapper - An oil-burning car or truck
    • Hopped up - A car with modifications or enhancements (like “Souped up”)
    • Lay rubber - To stop so fast you make wheel marks on the road
    • Midnight auto supply - A slang term for stolen car parts
    • Passion pit - The drive-in movies (since couples would often have romantic encounters during the film)
    • Peel out - To accelerate fast
    • Rack for pinks - A race in which the winner keeps the loser’s car, with “pinks” referring to the vehicle title (a pink slip)
    • Shotgun - The passenger seat of the car; often called out to claim the front seat before a car ride
    • Slug bug - A Volkswagen Beetle
    • Souped-up - A car with modifications or extra parts intended to enhance it (make it faster)
    • Tank - A particularly large car
    • Tooling - Driving around aimlessly
    • Truckin’ - Moving fast (either driving or walking)
    • Twice pipes - Two-muffler tailpipes, typically seen on modified, “souped-up” cars
    • Wheelie - Doing a wheel stand with a car or motorcycle
Section 7 of 10:

’60s Slang for Experiences

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  1. Nowadays, you might describe a fun event or party as a bash, blowout, or rager…but what’d they say in the ’60s? Sure enough, there are ’60s slang terms for experiences of all kinds, good and bad. Take a look at the following slang:
    • A gas - Having a fun time
    • Bad - Awesome, something very good [4]
    • Ball - To party (as in Little Richard’s “Good golly, Miss Molly sure like to ball”
    • Beat feet - To leave in a hurry (usually to get away from something unpleasant)
    • Blast - A great time (often referring to a party or event)
    • Bug out - To leave in a hurry
    • Catch some rays - Go outside in the sun, sunbathing
    • Carded - To have an I.D. (identification) checked by police
    • Cut out - To leave the area fast
    • Ditch - To skip a day of school or leave someone behind
    • Flake off - To leave suddenly or without a goodbye
    • Flower power - The peaceful protest movement of the 60s that advocated love and nonviolence
    • Freak out - To get overly excited or overwhelmed by emotions
    • Hairy - A situation that’s difficult or out of control
    • Hang loose - Take it easy, to be laid back
    • Hang tough - Persevere and stick with something even though it’s hard
    • Heavy - A serious, intense subject
    • Jam - To play music together informally
    • Jazzed - To be excited or enthusiastic about something
    • Kicks - Something done for the fun of it (a recreational activity)
    • Laid back - Relaxed, easy-going
    • No sweat - Another way to say “No problem” (meaning something isn’t a problem or is easy to do)
    • On the make - Looking for a date or romantic connection
    • Pig out - Overeat or indulge in a lot of food
    • Pound - Beat someone up (physically)
    • Scarf - To eat very fast
    • Shot down - To be rejected socially or romantically
    • Solid - An expression of understanding and agreement
    • Stoked - To like someone or something a great deal
    • Stood up - When your date doesn’t show up
    • Swapping spit - Kissing with tongue; French kissing
    • The pits - The worst; nasty, bad, awful (“Ugh, this place is the pits!”)
    • Tough/tuff - Great-looking
    • Tune out - To ignore or refuse to engage with something
    • Way out - Something so exceptional or unconventional that it can’t be described
    • Wipe out - To fall off a surfboard or fail big-time in general
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Section 8 of 10:

’60s Slang Sayings

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  1. Finally, let’s look at fun ’60s sayings—full phrases that people would commonly use when chatting, like “Don’t have a cow” (a saying resurrected in the ’90s by Bart Simpson of The Simpsons ) or “Lay it on me.” Some might be familiar to you, while others might be total unknowns!
    • Blew the doors off - Beat the other car(s) easily in a race
    • Bum a smoke - Borrow a cigarette from someone else
    • Catch some Z’s - Go to sleep
    • Check it out - “Look at that”
    • Dibs - An expression used to “call” something for yourself (“Dibs on that cookie!”)
    • Don’t flip your wig - Another way to say, “Don’t be upset”
    • Don’t have a cow - “Don’t be upset” (just like “Don’t flip your wig”)
    • Don’t sweat it - “Don’t worry about it,” stop worrying
    • Drop a dime - Use a payphone
    • Gimme some skin - Asking for a high-five or handshake in agreement
    • Give me some sugar - Give me a kiss
    • Go all the way - Be intimate with someone (have sexual relations)
    • Going steady - Dating someone exclusively, in a relationship
    • Jump bad - Looking for a fight or acting tough
    • Lay it on me - Asking someone for information or their thoughts on something
    • Meanwhile, back at the ranch - A phrase used to get a story back on track or get to the point
    • On the rag - In a bad mood
    • Right on - An expression of affirmation, support, or agreement (like saying “Okay”)
    • Shine it on - Don’t think about it too much; just forget about it
    • Shined me on - Ignored me (can also say “Shined them on,” for “Ignored them”)
    • Sock it to me - Another way to say “Let me have it” (make a forceful comment, reprimand, or even physical blow)
    • Solid - An indication of understanding or agreement
    • That’s her bag - “That’s what she’s into” (meaning someone’s hobbies or interests)
    • What a bummer - Another way to say “How depressing”
    • What’s your bag? - The 60s equivalent of “What’s your deal?” (asking what someone’s problem is)
Section 9 of 10:

’60s Slang Over the Years

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  1. Sure, some are definitely out-of-date, but plenty of people still say they’re “freaking out” over something or complain that they have a “zit” on their face—to the point that you’ll see these terms in slang compilations for the ’70s, the ’80s, and beyond. Plus, many more ’60s slang terms originated in earlier decades (like “cool,” which came from ’30s and ’40s jazz culture).
    • Looking for more fun slang terms from decades past? Check out our guides to slang from the 1950s , 1970s , 1980s , 1990s , and 2000s !
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Section 10 of 10:

Frequently Asked Questions About ‘60s Slang

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  1. 1
    What is the ’60s hippie term for “awesome” or “cool”? “Cool” was actually in use during the ’60s, but other hippie terms include “groovy” and “outta sight.”
  2. 2
    What was the nickname for the ’60s? The ’60s were sometimes called the “cultural decade” in the US or the “Swinging Sixties” in the United Kingdom.
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      References

      1. ↑ https://www.avintagenerd.net/2015/03/1960s-groovy-slang-words.html
      2. ↑ https://www.khsclass1965.com/1960s-Slang-Words.htm
      3. ↑ https://www.avintagenerd.net/2015/03/1960s-groovy-slang-words.html
      4. ↑ https://www.khsclass1965.com/1960s-Slang-Words.htm

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