Example: “See all those cats lined up on the street?” Cop a Feel The term is thought to be connected to jazz musicians of the era, who were said to possess similar qualities to a cat: resourceful, quick on their feet but with a slightly aloof, languid quality. The term is based on the slang definition of “cop”, which means to steal or take something.
Example: “He keeps trying to cop a feel with those tiny hands of his.” Copaceticįine or satisfactory no problem. The origins of “copacetic” are unknown although there are several guesses as to its etymology. Stephen Goranson suggests that the author Irving Bacheller invented the word for a fictional character with a private vocabulary in his 1919 book A Man for the Ages. He further proposes that the term later became more widely known after its use in the lyrics of a 1920 song, At the New Jump Steady Ball.Īnother theory suggests that the word is derived from the Cajun French coup esètique or coupersètique, which means to be capable of being coped with successfully or to be able to cope with anything and everything. Example: “Everything here is just copacetic.” Egghead It is also old French slang for “final cut”, meaning the point of no return, associated with the blade of the guillotine. Often derogatory, a term for an intellectual or studious person. The term reached its peak during the 1950s, when Richard Nixon used it against the Democratic Presidential nominee Adlai Stevenson. The word is an anti-intellectual epithet used to describe people who are considered out of touch with ordinary people or lacking in realism, common sense, sexual interests etc. on account of their intellectual interests. presidential race, the term “egghead” replaced the more traditional “highbrow” and quickly took on a much sharper tone than the latter. The word “narc” is an abbreviation of “narcotics officer.” During the 1960s, drug use was at an all-time high, with a large majority of youth experimenting with hallucinogens such as LSD.Įxample: “Those eggheads in Cambridge have no idea what we have to deal with.” NarcĪ tattletale a snitch. Example: “Don’t be a narc, dude.” Submarine RacesĪn euphemism for making out (on the beach). Example: “Let me take you out Saturday and we can go watch the submarine races.” The term most likely originated from a joke to take someone out on a date to watch something that was nonexistent or that would be impossible to see, leaving them with no choice but to find other things to do.
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