10 slang words from the ’50s that we should bring back

Gabbi Shaw Jun 22, 2020, 8:39 PM

Americans tend to be obsessed with the ’50s — just look at things like “Grease” and “Happy Days.” So, it only makes sense that there are plenty of slang words and expressions that we think should make a comeback in 2020.

From copacetic to cruisin’ for a bruisin’ to backseat bingo, here are 10 slang terms that we think Gen-Z should bring back this year.

Calling someone the “ginchiest” might not sound like a compliment, but it actually means you think they’re cool.

50s fashion
This dress could be considered the ginchiest. Joseph Leombruno/Condé Nast/Getty Images

As Urban Dictionary defines it, ginchiness is “the attribute of being cool in the sense that others admire you for your appearance or actions or an object or situation that inspires those feelings.”

To “beat feet” is to make a run for it, but it’s more fun to say.

wilt chamberlain running
He’s ready to beat feet. Bettman/Getty Images

“Most often used in the context of escaping from a particular situation. Named because of the motion and sound produced during the process, i.e. beating one’s feet against the pavement,” according to Urban Dictionary.

Getting a haircut is a boring turn of phrase. We should all start saying “wig chop” again.

50s haircut
Getting a wig chop. Paul Almasy/Corbis/VCG/Getty Images

We should all be using the word “chop” more in our daily life — start with wig chop.

“Copacetic” is way more fun way to say, “It’s all good.”

ok sign 50s
A-OK. Debrocke/ClassicStock/Getty Images

Or, as Urban Dictionary defines it, “Running smoothly, going well, all right.”

“Bee’s knees” should be said more often, and not ironically.

grease
“Grease.” Polydor Records

Bee’s knees is still relatively popular, but in a sarcastic way. It’s a wholesome way to say something is cool — but with a rhyme!

“Backseat bingo” is an appropriately ’50s way of saying that two people are making out in their car.

kiss back seat car 50s
Playing some backseat bingo. L. R. Legwin/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

It’s better than calling it “tonsil hockey.”

On a related note, a “passion pit” isn’t just a band — it’s the drive-in theater, where couples would typically go to play backseat bingo.

drive in theater
A drive-in. J. R. Eyerman/Life Magazine/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Drive-in theaters are becoming more popular due to the pandemic — it’s a return of passion pits.

“Cruisin’ for a bruisin'” basically means someone is asking for a fight, but like with bee’s knees, everything is more fun in rhyme.

50s fight
Boxers. George Silk/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Cruisin’ for a Bruisin’” is the name of a song from the Disney Channel Original Movie “Teen Beach Movie,” so clearly the youths of today are ready for its comeback.

Imagine saying someone got “chrome-plated” instead of dressed up.

50s prom
Students dancing at the Mariemont High School prom. Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Saying someone got all chrome-plated is just a much more fun image than plain, old dressed up.

You can call someone “the living end” when they’re being particularly ridiculous.

the living end
Shooting someone with an arrow would make you the living end. Francis Miller/The LIFE Picture Collection/Getty Images

Urban Dictionary defines the living end as “anything particularly outrageous, absurd, or scandalous.”

This article was republished from Insider.com

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