It’s a common joke that if you were around in the ’60s, you probably don’t remember them, but fortunately, that isn’t true. (For the most part!) The ’60s was one of the most consequential decades in American history, and it produced a lot of expressions that everyone knew at the time but which rarely are used today. We’ve rounded up 28 of them. How many did you know before reading this?
1. Gimme Some Skin
If you said this to someone, you probably had your hand out with your palm up, expecting the other person to slap your hand. This evolved into “slap me some skin” and “gimme five” and eventually into the high-five.
2. The Fuzz
A slang term for the police, you might not come across this today unless you read or watch The Outsiders, which is set in the ’60s. It was a derogatory term regarding the police as soft and incompetent.
3. Dig It
This didn’t mean to pick up a shovel and get to work. Instead, it was a way of saying you understood or appreciated something or to ask the same of someone else.
4. Boob Tube
In the ’60s, TVs were finally in almost every American household. This slang term referred to the cathode ray tube inside the original boxy TVs and to the zombified effect it had on so many watchers, rendering them “boobs.”
5. Going Steady
If you were dating someone exclusively in the ’60s, you were going steady. By the 80s, it had changed to “going out” and “going together,” and today has terms like “situationships” for it. It always was and still is okay to say someone is your boyfriend or girlfriend; they convey the same thing.
6. Necking
Related to the above, passionate kissing was called necking, maybe because it usually involved one or both participants having an arm around the other’s neck. There was a lot of it taking place at drive-in movies in the ’60s. Today, you’re more likely to hear “making out.”
7. Bippy
This came from a TV comedy show and referred to one’s rear end. The phrase “You bet your [something we won’t print here]” grew from “You bet your bippy.” It meant and still means that you can be sure about something.
8. Bogart (As a Verb)
In his movies, Humphrey Bogart would often smoke a cigarette all the way down to a tiny stub. To bogart something meant to hog it up and not share any, frequently referring to a marijuana joint. The era classic Easy Rider even had a song called “Don’t Bogart Me” in its soundtrack.
9. What’s Your Bag?
If you asked someone this, you were asking what was bothering them, or you might have been asking in an irritated way what their problem was. It was a play on the word baggage, referring to what we carry around with us.
10. Keep On Truckin’
When you were facing a challenging situation, someone might have told you to keep on truckin’. You’re not likely to hear it today unless you’re around Grateful Dead fans; the classic song “Truckin’” is the inspiration for it.
11. Cool Cat
Somebody who was really cool and stylish was a cool cat. It might have grown from jazz lingo. If you hear it today, it will likely be from someone who was around in the ’60s; it’s pretty uncommon otherwise.
12. Foxy
Originally, this meant you were sly, but it grew into a term describing an attractive woman who was a “fox.” The legendary Jimi Hendrix helped popularize the term with his song “Foxy Lady.” You might still hear these terms today, but they’ve largely been replaced by terms like “hot.”
13. Groovy
Groovy came from “in the groove,” which alluded to the needle of a record player settling into the record’s grooves. The term refers to something that’s cool. The Scooby-Doo cartoons kept it alive during the 70s and 80s, and there was a resurgence later due to the Austin Powers films, but today, few people use it in a serious fashion.
14. Far-out
Something that was far-out was something so awesome that it was almost hard to believe. The Space Age was on during the 60s and probably explains the origin of the term.
15. Freak flag
Unofficially started by Jimi Hendrix, letting your freak flag fly meant you were letting loose and having a good time, like that co-worker who has a little too much at the office party and decides to dance on a table. Today, you sometimes still hear that someone’s getting their freak on.
16. Copacetic
If something is copacetic, it’s satisfactory or going well. Nowadays, a common equivalent is “It’s all good.”
17. Heavy
When you experienced deep sadness or something philosophically complex, it was heavy. Although you might hear actual people still use it that way, you’re more likely to encounter it while watching a comedy with characters who are getting high on…
18. Grass
In the 60s, it was slang for marijuana. While it has never gone away, young people today apparently prefer “weed,” and “pot” is supposedly frowned upon, too.
19. Mod
Young people love to shorten already-short words, and this was a trimming of “modern.” It came to mean an edgy style of dress, though, and it carried over into later decades. In 2023, though, using it is more likely to make someone think of an online forum moderator.
20. Moptop
This was a haircut style the Beatles popularized. By the 80s, people derisively called it a “bowl cut.” Today, it will probably conjure an image of curly, unkempt hair.
21. Out of sight
Meaning pretty much the same thing as “far-out” this term came from jazz culture and had been around for decades. However, it became widely popular during the 50s and 60s.
22. It’s a gas
Something good or fun was a “gas.” Example: “Hey man, you gotta go to this party tomorrow night. It’s gonna be a gas!”
23. Hang loose
Today, if you just want a mellow time (another popular 60s adjective) so you can take it easy, you might say you want to “chill.” In the 60s, that was “hanging loose.”
24. Bread
Money, especially in cash form, has had a lot of slang terms. People in the 60s liked “bread,” which you might still hear today, but not that much.
25. Ball
To party hard was to “ball.” Example: Little Richard’s line “Good golly Miss Molly, you sure like to ball.”
26. Chrome dome
Shiny chrome cars were still a big deal in the 60s. That will help you understand why “chrome dome” became a popular slang term for a bald head.
27. Birth control seats
Through the 60s and into the 70s, bench seats were still the norm in the front of most cars. When bucket seats started coming out, they apparently interfered with teens’ ability to engage in “necking” and certain other activities, hence the nickname.
28. Beat Feet
Say you showed up at a lame party or stumbled into someplace you shouldn’t have been. Having “beat feet” meant you left the scene quickly.
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Featured Image Credit: Maria Markevich/Shutterstock
Robert Sihler is an educator, freelance writer, and rock climbing guide and instructor living with his family in Driftwood, Texas. In his spare time, he enjoys reading fiction, streaming films, completing crossword puzzles, and rock climbing. When he goes on vacation, he likes to visit the mountains of the West and climb remote, obscure peaks that have seen few or no prior ascents.