1920’s Slang
All-Wet Wrong; Arguing a mistaken belief
Applesauce Nonsense
Banana Oil Nonsense
Bee’s Knees A great thing
Berries Anything wonderful
Bible Belt An area of the south pertaining to religion
Blind date A date with an unknown person
Big Cheese An important person
Bull Session An informal group discussion
Bump-off To murder
Cake Eater A ladies man
Carry a torch Unmatched love
Gatecrasher A person who attends a party without an invitation
Giggle water An alcoholic drink
Gin Mill A secret bar
Gold Digger A woman who uses feminine charm to take money from a man
Gyp To cheat out of
Hard-boiled Tough or without sentiment
Heebie-Jeebies The jitters
Hep wise
High Hat To snub or ignore
Hokum Nonsense
Hooch Bootleg liquor
Cat’s Meow Anything wonderful
Cheaters eyeglasses
Copacetic Excellent
Crush An infatuation with a person
Darb An excellent person or thing
Dogs Human feet
Drugstore Cowboy A fashionably dressed idler who hangs around public places trying to pick up girls
Dumb Dora A stupid girl
Fall Guy The person who takes the blame
Flapper A typical young girl of the 20’s usually with bobbed hair, short skirts, and rolled stockings
Flat Tire A boring person
Gam A girl’s leg
Main Drag The important street of the town
Neck A make out session
Nerts An interjection expressing disgust
Ossified drunk
Pet To caress intimately
Pinch To arrest
Ritzy Elegant
The Real McCoy The actual
Run Around Deceptive in response to a request
Scram To leave quickly
Screwy crazy
Hoofer A singing girl
Horsefeathers Nonsense
Hotsy-Totsy pleasing
Jake OK
Jalopy An old car
Keen appealing
Kiddo A familiar form of address
kisser The mouth
Line Insincere flattery
Lounge Lizard A ladies’ man
Push Over A thing easily overcome
Sheba A young, attractive woman
Sheik A young, attractive guy
Smeller The nose
Sob Sister A woman reporter who is too caring about the subject matter
Speak-Easy A secret bar
Spiffy A nice appearance
Spifflicated drunk
Struggle Buggy A car From its use as a place in which boys tried to seduce girls
Stuck on Having a crush on
Swanky fancy
Swell marvelous
Torpedo A hired gunman
Upchuck To vomit
Your Assignment Once you have defined the slang of the 1920’s you need to write a story where the main character is a high school kid from the 1920’s. Your story needs to be at least 2 pages long and use at least 20 different slang words. Your character can get him/herself into any situation you wish. Good Luck