| Slang
of the 30s |
|
| Abercrombie |
A know-it-all |
| Abyssinia |
I'll be seeing you |
| Aces, snazzy, hot, nobby, smooth, sweet, swell, keen, cool |
Very good |
| All the way |
Chocolate cake or fudge with ice cream |
| All wet |
No good |
| Ameche, horn, blower
|
Telephone |
| Apple |
Any big town or city |
| Babe, broad, dame, doll, frail, twist, muffin,
kitten |
Woman |
| Baby |
Glass of milk |
| Bean shooter, gat, rod, roscoe, heater,
convincer |
Gun |
| Beat |
Broke |
| Behind the grind |
Behind in one's studies |
| Big house, hoosegow |
Prison |
| Bleed |
to
extort or blackmail |
| Blinkers, lamps, pies, shutters, peepers |
Eyes |
| Blow your wig |
Become very excited |
| Booze, hooch, giggle juice, mule |
Whiskey |
| Brodie |
A mistake |
| Brunos, goons, hatchetmen, torpedoes, trigger men |
Hired gunmen and other tough guys |
| Bulge |
Having the advantage |
| Bumping gums, booshwash |
Talk about nothing useful |
| Butter
and egg fly, hot mama, sweet mama, sweet patootie, dish, looker, tomato |
An attractive woman |
| Butter
and egg man |
The
money man, the man with the bankroll |
| Buzzer |
Police badge |
| Cabbage, lettuce, kale, folding green, long green. |
color of money |
| Cadillac |
One
ounce packet of cocaine or heroin |
| Canary |
A
female vocalist |
| Cats or alligators |
Fans of swing music |
| Cave |
One's house or apartment |
| Check or checker |
A dollar |
| Chicago overcoat |
Coffin |
| Chicago typewriter, chopper, gat |
"Tommy Gun", Thompson Submachine Gun |
| Chisel |
Swindle, cheat, work an angle |
| Cinder dick |
Railroad detective |
| City juice, dog soup |
Glass of water |
| Clam-bake |
Wild swing |
| Clip joint |
Night club or gambling joint where patrons get flimflammed |
| Copper |
Policeman |
| Crumb |
A fink, a loser by social standards |
| Crust |
To insult |
| Curve |
Disappointment |
| Cute as a bug's ear |
Very cute |
| Dead hoofer or cement mixer |
Bad dancer |
| Dick, shamus, gumshoe, flatfoot |
Detective |
| Dig |
Think hard or understand |
| Dil-ya-ble |
A phone call |
| Dingy |
Silly |
| Dizzy with a dame |
Very much in love with a woman, sometimes at great risk to themselves, especially if she's someone else's moll |
| Dog house |
String bass |
| Doggy |
Well dressed but in a self conscious way |
| Dollface |
Name for a woman when a man is pleading his case or apologizing |
| Doss |
Sleep |
| Drilling,
plugging, throwing lead, filling someone with daylight, giving someone lead poisoning |
Shooting a gun (at someone) |
| Drumsticks, pins, pillars, stems, uprights, get away sticks, gams |
Legs |
| Dukes, paws, grabbers, meat hooks |
hands |
| Egg |
A crude person |
| Egg harbor |
Free dance |
| Eggs in coffee |
Run smoothly |
| Evil |
In a bad mood |
| Face |
A Caucasian |
| Fem, filly, flame, flirt, fuss |
Constant girl companion to a boy |
| Five spot, a Lincoln
|
$5 bill |
| Genius |
An extremely, unbelievably, dumb persons |
| Gin mill |
Place that serves liquor, sometimes illegally |
| G-man |
Federal agent, term coined by Machine Gun Kelly |
| Gobble-pipe |
Saxophone |
| Golddigger |
Attractive young woman actively hunting for a rich man |
| Greaseball, half portion, wet smack, wet sock, jelly bean |
Unpopular person |
| Grifter |
A con man or woman |
| Gumming the works |
To cause something to run less smoothly |
| Gunsel |
Gunman with a hint toward being a reckless loose cannon or young homosexual (insult) |
| Hard boiled |
Tough |
| Hocks, plates |
Feet |
| Honey cooler |
A kiss |
| Hop, rag, jolly up, romp, wingding |
Dance or party |
| Hotsquat |
Electric chair |
| House dick, house peeper |
House detective |
| Joe |
A average guy |
| Joed |
Tired |
| Juicy |
Enjoyable |
| K balling |
Salvaging parts from junked rail cars to rebuild others |
| Keen |
Very Good |
| Kibosh |
Squelch |
| Kippy |
Neat |
| Low down |
All the information |
| Lunger |
Someone with tuberculosis |
| Make tracks, dangle |
Leave in a hurry, leave aburptly |
| Meat wagon |
Ambulance |
| Micky, Micky Finn |
Drink spiked with a knock out drugs |
| Mitt me kid! |
Congratulate me |
| Moll |
A gangster's girlfriend |
| Murder! |
Wow! |
| Nuts! |
Telling someone they are full of nonsense |
| Okie |
Migrant worker from Oklahoma |
| Off the cob |
Corny |
| Packing heat, wearing iron |
Carrying a gun |
| Pally |
Friend, chum, sometimes used sarcasticly |
| Patsy |
Innocent man framed for a criminal charge |
| Pill |
Disagreeable person |
| Pip |
Attractive person |
| Pitching woo, making whoopee |
Making love |
| Platter |
A record |
| Plenty rugged |
Big and strong |
| Pachuco |
Young
Mexican living in the US |
| Ring-a-ding-ding |
A good time at a party |
| Rot gut, bathtub gin |
Prohibition alcohol usually made in back rooms and of low quality |
| Sawbuck |
$10 bill |
| Scat
singer |
A
vocalist who improvises lyrics, substituting nonsense syllables for words |
| Scrub |
Poor student |
| Shake a leg |
Hurry up |
| Skin tickler |
A drummer |
| Slugburger |
Adding day-old bread to ground beef. |
| Slip me five |
Shake my hand |
| Smooth |
Well dressed without qualification |
| Snipe |
Cigarette |
| Sourdough |
Conterfeit money |
| Speakeasy |
Bar disguised as something else or hidden behind an unmarked door |
| Squat |
Nothing |
| Stool pigeon, snitch |
Someone who informs to the police |
| Suds, salad, dough, moolah, rhino, bacon (as in bring home the
bacon), bread |
Money |
| Take a powder, blow, split, scram, drift |
Leave |
| Taking the rap, taking the fall |
Taking responsibility for someone else's crime or crimes |
| The high hat |
A response in which one excludes another with irreverence and intent to offend |
| The kiss off |
The final goodbye as in exile or death |
| Tin |
Small change |
| Tin can, flivver |
A car |
| Tin ear,
Ickie |
Someone who did not like popular music |
| Togged to the bricks
|
Dressed up |
| Trip for biscuits |
A task that yields nothing |
| Twit |
Fool or Idiot |
| Whacky |
Crazy |
| What's your story, morning glory? |
What do you mean by that? |
| Wheat |
Person unused to city ways |
| Yo! |
Yes |
| You and me both |
I agree |
| "You shred it, wheat" |
You said it |
