Tuesday, October 5, 2010

1950's American Slang Word(s) of the Day #25

Our 1950's American Slang Word (s) of the Day today is:

Note: The words I use are chosen from the Pocket Dictionary of American Slang. A popular abridgment of the finest dictionary of American Slang ever published. compiled by Harold Wentworth and Suart Berg Flexner. "contained here are definitions of almost all the slang words in common use today" The dictionary was published in 1960 and took ten years to compile. what you read here is copied word for word from the dictionary EXCEPT for the EXAMPLES and CLARIFICATIONS. Those are mine

Four Letter Man; A dumb or stupid man, usually a student. Some student use. The
four letters are "d-u-m-b."= dumb. See "Three Letter Man" for the derivation.



Three Letter Man; An effeminate man; specifically a Homosexual. The three letters are
"f-a-g"= fag. A pun on the collegiate term "Three Letter Man"= a student athlete. Reinforced by "three dollar bill". Some student use since c. 1935.


Three Dollar Bill; An odd or eccentric person; specifically a person who claims to
be what he is not or tries to assume the identity of another.
Because there is no such thing as a US three dollar bill. From the expression "As phony as a three dollar bill." -specifically a Homosexual; a sexual pervert. (also: The Third Sex; Homosexuals. Now the only common meaning.)

                                            image by Diane Arbus "Seated Man in Bra and Stockings"
Example:
Hey Joey, Waddya tink of dat Tony? What a Nancy, Huh? gives me the heebies! At first I was tinkin he was just a kook an' all dat but Willie, he tole me Tony's da real ting, a tree letter man! Can you beleedat? A tree letter man right here in our buildin'Joey, right here in our buildin'!

Clarification:
Hello Joseph. I was wondering, what is your opinion on Anthony? I have come to the conclusion that he is highly effeminate. I get an uncomfortable feeling of nervousness when I am near Anthony. Initially I reasoned that Anthony was merely eccentric but William plainly informed me that Anthony is in fact a Homosexual! Can you accept this  Joseph? We are actually cohabiting in the same rental property as a Homosexual!

4 comments:

  1. Gee - thank you for following my blog http://andthentheystartsprkling.blogspot.com/!! :")

    ReplyDelete
  2. I love the Diane Arbus pic. She took some strange photos.

    ReplyDelete
  3. So good topic really i like any post talking about Business Ideas and Advices but i want to say thing to u economist intelligence unit not that only ... you can see in Business economist intelligence unit and more , you shall search in Google and Wikipedia about that .... thanks a gain ,,,

    ReplyDelete

LABELS

$60000 Question (1) 1880 (1) 1930's (1) 1940's (3) 1950's (67) 1960's (9) 1970's (3) 4th of July (1) addiction (3) advertising (34) Alcoholism (1) American Slang (27) Arrow shirts (1) art instruction ads (3) Astronaut space suit (1) atomic (3) Avon (1) Bachelor Father (2) Beat Generation (4) beatnik (2) beauty (7) beauty products (4) Bell Telephone System (1) Bobby Troup (1) bras (1) Brides (1) Brute Father (1) cab calloway (1) Cast a Kitten (1) cat (1) cavaliers (1) Celebrities (8) Chani (1) Cheeze its (1) Cherries (1) Chesterfields (1) children (1) childrens books (1) Clearasil (1) Collecting (1) comics (1) cookbooks (1) crafts (2) Curves Ahead (2) Cyd Charisse (1) Dad (1) Daddy-O (1) Dame (1) dark eyes (1) decorating (1) Devil Girl From Mars (1) Douglas Dc-8 (1) Draw Me (3) Eames (1) electric range (1) Elizabeth Taylor (1) EMERGENCY (1) Etiquette (2) extremely cool blogs (1) fall (1) Family (1) Family Circle (5) fashion (4) feminine instruction (2) Fiction (12) fight (1) food (6) four letter man (1) Fredricks of Hollywood (1) French Walk (1) fun (1) gambling (1) Gargo (1) girdles (2) Gladys Cooper (1) glamour (3) Gloria Grahame (1) Gloria Lockerman (1) Gog (1) Gold Chloride (1) Good Housekeeping (2) Gort (1) Grandpa (2) Guns (1) hairstyles (2) Heat (1) Heavenly Pink Cloud (1) hep (1) hepcat (2) Hindenburg Survivors (1) hipster (1) Hostessing (2) Household tips (4) Hyacinthe (1) I Love Lucy (1) Ike (1) Jack Webb (1) Jailbait (1) Jelly Roll (1) Jive (1) Joan Crawford (1) John Forsythe (2) journey (1) Julie London (2) Jungle (1) Keeley Institute (1) Ladies Home Journal (3) Lady with gun (1) language (1) Leggs (1) Leslie E Keeley (1) lifestyle (1) Lili St. Cyr (1) Livingroom gig (1) lucky strike (1) Lustro Ware (1) lysol (1) Mad Men (1) Madison Avenue (1) make-up (1) Marilyn Monroe (1) Mario Lanza (1) Martha Raye (1) Marvel (1) meatball (1) Melody Raye Condos (1) memories (1) Modern Confessions (1) musician (2) Myrna Loy (1) Navy (1) Neat Stuff (1) Nesbitts (1) Nick Condos (1) Noreen Corcoran (1) Norman Lear (1) nose job (1) Oleo (1) OMG (6) peepshow (1) Pic of the Week (3) pimples (1) Pin Up Girl (1) Pinky (1) Polident (1) polio (1) popular culture (2) president (1) Prom (1) pulp fiction (1) Pulpy fiction covers (1) Quarreling (1) Quotes (1) Ranch Home (1) REALLY COOL STUFF I MADE (2) Recipes (3) Reefer Party (1) resolutions (1) RETRO (2) Revealing Romances (1) reward (1) Robbie The Robot (1) Robert Redford (1) Robots (1) Rod Serling (1) salk (1) Salt and Pepper Shakers (1) Samee Tong (1) sausage (1) scans (11) Scene (1) Sexy (1) sheets (1) Sitcoms (1) Sizzle (1) Skate (1) skid row (1) skidroad (1) Skin (1) skinny (1) slang of the day (1) slot machine (1) smokin' (3) Sofa Lizzard (1) Square America (1) SS Saratoga (1) Stanley (1) Stolen From (4) Stories (11) Street Corner Girl (1) strip tease (1) stripper (1) Swell (1) Tallulah Bankhead (1) Target Earth (1) teens (1) Television (3) Tenor (1) The Day the Earth Stood Still (1) The Fever (1) the Red House (1) Thermo-lite (1) three dollar bill (1) three letter man (1) Thrift (3) Thursday Stuff (3) Tim Tam Braid (1) tips (3) to do's (1) Tobor the Great (1) Town Journal (1) True Confessions (1) True Detective (1) True Romance (1) True Secrets (1) True Story (4) Tuna (1) Twilight Zone (2) United States of America (1) USO (1) Vaudeville (1) vegetables (1) Vera Ellen (1) vintage (28) Vivian Vance (1) Weird stuff (2) wonder cream (1) ww2 (1)