The Great Gatsby



LANGUAGE OF THE 1920s

     Hey doll, wanna get into my breezer and get fried? This may seem Greek to a teenager of the 1990s, but it was a common question to an attractive girl in the 1920s. Every decade creates its own words and phrases. The 1920s, however, surpassed all decades before it by being unique in every aspect. This was a time of change for many, especially the youth, and language was used as an instrument to welcome the new culture. With the help of the automobile, adolescents could exit the house and take their life into their own hands; their parents no longer ordered them around. A boost for higher education for the young generation accompanied the new language, and these teenagers created even more cant expressions to set themselves apart from the older crowd. In addition to those who used the new gibberish, writers began to include slang in their writing to give the reader a better picture of the time period. For instance, in The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay used the expression "old sport" (old buddy) almost every time he opened his mouth. Also, he went to "Oggsford," or Oxford University, which was a new trend because colleges and universities were attracting more and more students every day. The Roaring Twenties, as the decade is now called, apparently changed the English language in more ways than one.
Here are some words that will help you understand the time period a little better:

Female Slang  (used for Males)
smooth - a well-dressed man without qualification
doggy - a well-dressed man but very self-conscious and conspicuous in manner
Joe Broobs - a perfect dresser
wet - an odd dresser or over-dresser
Joe Zlish - a male college student
Sheik - boyfriend

Male Slang   (used for Females)
wife - a steady girlfriend
quite the beevies - very good
baby - one's sweetheart
Sheba - girlfriend
bear cat - attractive girl
bug-eyed Betty, crumb, chunk of lead - unattractive girl
angel, thrill, bird, live, doll, one, baby vamp, choice bit of calico - popular girl





Language in School

drag
a dance
dragging
taking a girl to a dance
blind date
a date that has not met
necking
kissing
party
a girl who kisses
stuck on
in love with
rush
to court membership in a fraternity










Neutral Words
oodles
a lot of something
V tub
to take a bath
hit on all six
to perform 100%
applesauce
nonsense
beef
a complaint
bees knees
something excellent
beeswax
business
bird
a man, woman, or an odd person
breezer
a convertible top auto
cast a kitten
to have a fit
chewing gum
double talk
dough, jack
money
fly boy
aviator
hayburner
an auto that is expensive to run
on the lam
fleeing from the police
pinko
liberal
sap
fool
screaming meemies
heebie jeebies

Prohibition

     The Prohibition amendment made alcohol illegal and led to a significant change in the 1920s. Since many people could no longer sell or consume alcohol legally, they resorted to perform their tasks furtively. Language played a major role in assisting alcohol sales because a need for code words had arisen in that business. An entire section of vernacular was devoted to alcohol related words. In The Great Gatsby, Jay Gatsby works as a bootlegger or sells alcohol illegally. He makes a fortune from his business, but he is only one of the many bootleggers of the 1920s. Jay must also use the popular jargon to pursue his profession. Some of the words that replaced alcohol-related ones when the Prohibition amendment was enacted are listed below:
giggle water
alcohol
lap
to drink
gin mill
speakeasy
half cut or soaked with a bar rag
pleasantly tipsy
fried, barreled, canned
full blown intoxicated
non-skit
could hold her liquor
hip hound
serious drinker
drunken goof
flask
apple alley
drunk sailor


Jokes

     While viewing the comics in the newspaper, you may notice that the jokes and cartoons are not of the same styles as they were a few decades ago. Writers and comedians have also changed in the way they construct their jokes. Similarly, the Roaring Twenties had their own opinion of comedy. Here is a taste for what they thought was hilarious. Have fun!!!!!

I'm a mute
You don't say?

Busy?
No, you busy?
No.
Then let's go to class.

She: I want that car in the windows.
He: Well, it's in the window.

Marriage is an institution.
Marriage is love.
Love is blind
Therefore marriage is an institution of the blind.

Morronia thinks the postage stamp is a dance.
Well, letter.

She was so dumb she wondered how electric light poles grew in a straight line.

I'd love to have a leopard skin coat.
Oh, my dear, they show spots terribly!

She doesn't drink.
She doesn't pet.
She hasn't been to college yet.

Sources:
Bowen, Ezra. The Roaring Twenties. Alexandria: Time-Life, 1969.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott. The Great Gatsby. New York: Collier, 1991.

McCutcheon, Marc. Everyday Life from Prohibition through World War II. Cincinnati: Writer's Digest, 1915.

Links to sites:
Catalog of the 1920s
Films

Page last updated on April 28, 1999.
Curator: Monica Dilawari

GREAT GATSBY HOME