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The Tuning Note - HEPSTER DICTIONARY OF JIVE:
Expressions:
- Ain't coming on that tab (phrase): won't accept the proposition. Usually abbr. to "I ain't coming."
- Alligator (n): jitterbug.
- Apple (n): the big town, the main stem, Harlem.
- Armstrongs (n): musical notes in the upper register, high trumpet notes.
- Barbecue (n): the girl friend, a beauty
- Barrelhouse (adj): free and easy.
- Battle (n): a very homely girl, a crone.
- Beat (adj): (1) tired, exhausted. Example, "You look beat" or "I feel beat." (2) lacking anything. Ex, "I am beat for my cash", "I am beat to my socks" (lacking everything).
- Beat it out (v): play it hot, emphasize the rhythm.
- Beat up (adj): sad, uncomplimentary, tired.
- Beat up the chops (or the gums) (v): to talk, converse, be loquacious.
- Beef (v): to say, to state. Example, "He beefed to me that, etc."
- Belly-Fiddle (n): guitar.
- Bible (n): the gospel truth. Example, "It's the bible!"
- Black (n): night.
- Black and tan (n): dark and light colored folks. Not colored and white folks as erroneously assumed.
- Blew their wigs (adj): excited with enthusiasm, gone crazy.
- Blip (n): something very good. Example, "That's a blip"; "She's a blip."
- Blow the top (v): to be overcome with emotion (delight). Example, "You'll blow your top when you hear this one."
- Boogie-woogie (n): harmony with accented bass.
- Boot (v): to give. Example, "Boot me that glove."
- Break it up (v): to win applause, to stop the show.
- Bree (n): girl.
- Bright (n): day.
- Brightnin' (n): daybreak.
- Bring down ((1) n (2) v): (1) something depressing. Example, "That's a bring down." (2) Example, "That brings me down."
- Buddy ghee (n): fellow.
- Bust your conk (v): apply yourself diligently, break your neck.
- Canary (n): girl vocalist.
- Capped (v): outdone, surpassed.
- Cat (n): musician in swing band.
- Chick (n): girl.
- Chime (n): hour. Example, "I got in at six chimes."
- Clambake (n): ad lib session, every man for himself, a jam session not in the groove.
- Chirp (n): female singer.
- Cogs (n): sun glasses.
- Collar (v): to get, to obtain, to comprehend. Example, "I gotta collar me some food"; "Do you collar this jive?"
- Come again (v): try it over, do better than you are doing, I don't understand you.
- Comes on like gangbusters (or like test pilot) (v): plays, sings, or dances in a terrific manner, par excellence in any department. Sometimes abbr. to "That singer really comes on!"
- Cop (v): to get, to obtain (see collar; knock).
- Corny (adj): old-fashioned, stale.
- Creeps out like the shadow (v): "comes on," but in smooth, suave, sophisticated manner.
- Crumb crushers (n): teeth.
- Cubby (n): room, flat, home.
- Cups (n): sleep. Example, "I gotta catch some cups."
- Cut out (v): to leave, to depart. Example, "It's time to cut out"; "I cut out from the joint in early bright."
- Cut rate (n): a low, cheap person. Example, "Don't play me cut rate, Jack!"
- Dicty (adj): high-class, nifty, smart.
- Dig (v): (1) meet. Example, "I'll plant you now and dig you later." (2) look, see. Example, "Dig the chick on your left duke." (3) comprehend, understand. Example, "Do you dig this jive?"
- Dim (n): evening.
- Dime note (n): ten-dollar bill.
- Doghouse (n): bass fiddle.
- Domi (n): ordinary place to live in. Example, "I live in a righteous domi."
- Doss (n): sleep. Example, "I'm a little beat for my doss."
- Down with it (adj): through with it.
- Drape (n): suit of clothes, dress, costume.
- Dreamers (n): bed covers, blankets.
- Dry-goods (n): same as drape.
- Duke (n): hand, mitt.
- Dutchess (n): girl.
- Early black (n): evening.
- Early bright (n): morning.
- Evil (adj): in ill humor, in a nasty temper.
- Fall out (v): to be overcome with emotion. Example, "The cats fell out when he took that solo."
- Fews and two (n): money or cash in small quantity.
- Final (v): to leave, to go home. Example, "I finaled to my pad" (went to bed); "We copped a final" (went home).
- Fine dinner (n): a good-looking girl.
- Focus (v): to look, to see.
- Foxy (v): shrewd.
- Frame (n): the body.
- Fraughty issue (n): a very sad message, a deplorable state of affairs.
- Freeby (n): no charge, gratis. Example, "The meal was a freeby."
- Frisking the whiskers (v): what the cats do when they are warming up for a swing session.
- Frolic pad (n): place of entertainment, theater, nightclub.
- Frompy (adj): a frompy queen is a battle or faust.
- Front (n): a suit of clothes.
- Fruiting (v): fickle, fooling around with no particular object.
- Fry (v): to go to get hair straightened.
- Gabriels (n): trumpet players.
- Gammin' (adj): showing off, flirtatious.
- Gasser (n, adj): sensational. Example, "When it comes to dancing, she's a gasser."
- Gate (n): a male person (a salutation), abbr. for "gate-mouth."
- Get in there (exclamation): go to work, get busy, make it hot, give all you've got.
- Gimme some skin (v): shake hands.
- Git Box (n): guitar.
- Glims (n): the eyes.
- Got your boots on: you know what it is all about, you are a hep cat, you are wise.
- Got your glasses on: you are ritzy or snooty, you fail to recognize your friends, you are up-stage.
- Gravy (n): profits.
- Grease (v): to eat.
- Groovy (adj): fine. Example, "I feel groovy."
- Ground grippers (n): new shoes.
- Growl (n): vibrant notes from a trumpet.
- Gut-bucket (adj): low-down music.
- Guzzlin' foam (v): drinking beer.
- Hard (adj): fine, good. Example, "That's a hard tie you're wearing."
- Hard spiel (n): interesting line of talk.
- Have a ball (v): to enjoy yourself, stage a celebration. Example, "I had myself a ball last night."
- Hep cat (n): a guy who knows all the answers, understands jive.
- Hide-beater (n): a drummer (see skin-beater).
- Hincty (adj): conceited, snooty.
- Hip (adj): wise, sophisticated, anyone with boots on. Example, "She's a hip chick."
- Home-cooking (n): something very dinner (see fine dinner).
- Hot (adj): musically torrid; before swing, tunes were hot or bands were hot.
- Hummer (n): exceptionally good. Example, "Man, that boy is a hummer."
- Hype (n, v): build up for a loan, wooing a girl, persuasive talk.
- Icky (n): one who is not hip, a stupid person, can't collar the jive.
- Igg (v): to ignore someone. Example, "Don't igg me!)
- In the groove (adj): perfect, no deviation, down the alley.
- Jack (n): name for all male friends (see gate; pops).
- Jam ((1)n, (2)v): (1) improvised swing music. Example, "That's swell jam." (2) to play such music. Example, "That cat surely can jam."
- Jeff (n): a pest, a bore, an icky.
- Jelly (n): anything free, on the house.
- Jitterbug (n): a swing fan.
- Jive (n): the jargon of hipsters.
- Joint is jumping: the place is lively, the club is leaping with fun.
- Jumped in port (v): arrived in town.
- Kick (n): a pocket. Example, "I've got five bucks in my kick."
- Kill me (v): show me a good time, send me.
- Killer-diller (n): a great thrill.
- Knock (v): give. Example, "Knock me a kiss."
- Kopasetic (adj): absolutely okay, the tops.
- Lamp (v): to see, to look at.
- Land o'darkness (n): Harlem.
- Lane (n): a male, usually a nonprofessional.
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