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Straight from the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang
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Product Description
Righteous jive for all you weedheads, moochers, b-girls, gassers, bandrats, triggermen, grifters, snowbirds, and long-gone daddies.
Much of the slang popularly associated with the hippie generation of the 1960s actually dates back to before World War II, hijacked in the main from jazz and blues street expressions, mostly relating to drugs, sex, and drinking. Why talk when you can beat your chops, why eat when you can line your flue, and why snore when you can call some hogs? You’re not drunk–you’re just plumb full of stagger juice, and your skin isn’t pasty, it’s just caf? sunburn. Need a black coffee? That’s a shot of java, nix on the moo juice.
Containing thousands of examples of hipster slang drawn from pulp novels, classic noir and exploitation films, blues, country, and rock ’n’ roll lyrics, and other related sources from the 1920s to the 1960s, Straight from the Fridge, Dad is the perfect guide for all hep cats and kittens. Think of it as a sort of Thirty Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary for the beret-wearing, bongo-banging set. Solid, Jackson.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #599477 in Books
- Published on: 2001-11-06
- Released on: 2001-11-06
- Number of items: 1
- Binding: Paperback
- 208 pages
Editorial Reviews
From Library Journal
Decharne's fun and appealing reference source offers words, phrases, and sentences derived from early 20th-century jazz musicians, crime figures, etc., as represented in such sources as film, pulp novels, blues, and country songs dating from the early 20th century through the mid-1960s. Often noir in tone, these colorful gems include examples illustrating the context. Although originally published in Great Britain, the book draws heavily on American slang. Decharne does not always authenticate the definitions with documentary proof, as with the entry "beat the boards," which he defines as "tapdance." Other times, an entry may include a series of sensational examples: "My solid pigeon, that drape is a killer-diller, an E-flat Dillinger, a bit of a fly thing all on one page," says a young woman complimenting a pretty dress. The book lacks editorial principles like those of the very impressive Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (Vol. 1: LJ 8/94; Vol. 2: LJ 11/15/97), which provides a pronunciation key, indicates who or what group currently uses the entry, arranges the entries alphabetically according to the primary word, and offers variant forms and cross references. Nonetheless, Decharne's book includes many entries that do not appear in Random House. Highly recommended for reference collections serving writers, historians, hipsters, and anyone who enjoys language. Michelle Foyt, Russell Lib., Middletown, CT
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Inside Flap
Righteous jive for all you weedheads, moochers, b-girls, gassers, bandrats, triggermen, grifters, snowbirds, and long-gone daddies.
Much of the slang popularly associated with the hippie generation of the 1960s actually dates back to before World War II, hijacked in the main from jazz and blues street expressions, mostly relating to drugs, sex, and drinking. Why talk when you can beat your chops, why eat when you can line your flue, and why snore when you can call some hogs? You're not drunk–you're just plumb full of stagger juice, and your skin isn't pasty, it's just caf? sunburn. Need a black coffee? That's a shot of java, nix on the moo juice.
Containing thousands of examples of hipster slang drawn from pulp novels, classic noir and exploitation films, blues, country, and rock 'n' roll lyrics, and other related sources from the 1920s to the 1960s, Straight from the Fridge, Dad is the perfect guide for all hep cats and kittens. Think of it as a sort of Thirty Days to a More Powerful Vocabulary for the beret-wearing, bongo-banging set. Solid, Jackson.
About the Author
Max Décharné started out as the Gallon Drunk drummer before graduating to lead singer of the Flaming Stars. He is also an author and journalist for Mojo and Bizarre. He currently divides his time between London and Berlin.
Customer Reviews
What's Hip Today Might Become Passe
Subtitled "A Dictionary of Hipster Slang," this is a broad overview of mostly noirish/beat slang that will be enjoyed mostly be devotees of those genres. As mentioned by another reviewer, the organization is alphabetical only (as opposed to thematic, chronological, or source), so this lacks efficiency as a resource book--it's better for browsing. On the other hand, the somewhat narrower focus makes this more a heck of a lot more fun than the big and dry "Dictionary of Modern Slang," which is more complete but, akin to reading a dictionary. The slang expression is in a greyed margin on the left; brief explanations and examples are to the right.
The book has flaws: The etymology of the slang is sparing; there are some examples of works in which it was used (but we don't know if that was the first use) for some but not all of the words. Most disappointing? Not a single picture except the book cover. To some extent, that may limit its "gift appeal," and, more importantly, and presents the words without much context. Perhaps copyright issues were at play; still, even scene-setting period photos would have evoked the slang's cultural and historical referents. There's also no index, although that's somewhat expected given the paltry organization. Given all this, the book (at around $15.00) is currently overpriced. Still, since there aren't many competitors, it has merit as browsing material (especially), and somewhat as a reference for "hipster" language.
Groovy
This is such a fun book. The best part are the footnotes. They explain where the terms originate from (movies, novels...)I got Straight from the Fridge, because I wanted to look up "normal" words and find what the slang might be so I could jazz up the speech in a short story. However, the book is not set up that way. It is organized in alphabetical order for the slang term only. Despite this drawback, it is a great source and well worth the read.
