Ever get confused by some of the words or phrases when you watch a pre-Code film? Luckily regular reader Andrew Gilmore has been keeping a record of some of the slang and sayings that our stars are uttering. Here’s a listing:
A clambake | A boring or unsuccessful event |
A pip | Something wonderful; also, an attractive woman (or both) |
Aces | The best |
All wet | Incompetent |
And how! | “Definitely!” |
Bad egg | Not a nice guy |
Be yourself! | Behave, stop being silly |
Beat it/take a powder | To leave in a hurry |
Beat the rap | To escape punishment for a crime |
Beau | Boyfriend |
Beef | To complain |
Beezer | Nose |
Big noise | A blowhard |
Bird | A guy |
Blue | Sad, depressed |
Bozo | Fool, idiot |
Bright | Intelligent |
Bub | Term of address to a man |
Bunco | To con or trick |
Bunk | Nonsense, bullshit |
Bury the hatchet | To settle an argument |
Bust | A miserable failure |
Cad | A cruel person |
Can ya beat that? | “Well, I’ll be damned!” |
Card | An eccentric character |
Chassis | Body |
Chicken | An attractive young woman (later shortened to “chick”) |
Chiseler | A con artist or dishonest person |
Chum | Friend |
Chump | A gullible idiot |
Cinch | Something easy to do |
Cut in | To interrupt or disrupt |
Cut it! | “Stop it right now!” |
Dame | A woman |
Dandy | Wonderful |
Darb | Something excellent or wonderful |
Darn tootin’ | “Damn right!” |
Dish | An attractive woman |
Doggone | Euphemism for “goddamned” |
Dogs | Feet |
Don’t I know that? | “I’m aware of that, you idiot!” |
Don’t make me laugh! | “That’s ridiculous!” |
Don’t take any wooden nickels | “Don’t do anything stupid” |
Dope | An idiot |
Double-cross | To cheat or betray |
Dough | Money |
Ducky | Delightful |
Dumb cluck | A foolish or idiotic person [also a euphemism for ‘dumb fuck’] |
Egg | A guy |
Fella | A guy |
For the love of Mike! | “For God’s sake!” |
Four-flusher | A cheat or liar |
Fresh | Impudent, or smartaleck |
From hunger | Mediocre, awful (often prefaced with “strictly”) |
Gams | A woman’s legs |
Get a load of this! | “Check this out! Watch this!” |
Get the lead out | Get to work, get on with it! |
Gigolo | Male prostitute- colloquially, a ladies’ man |
Glad rags | Fancy clothes |
Good egg | A nice guy |
Grand | Wonderful, excellent |
Green | Naive |
Heel/pill | A jerk |
Hokum | Insincere nonsense |
Hooch | Alcohol |
Hooey/baloney | Nonsense |
Hot dog! | “Wow!” |
Hunky-dory/hotsy-totsy | Wonderful |
I go for you | “I’ve got a crush on you” |
I know it | “I’m aware” |
I smell a rat | “Something very suspicious is going on here” |
I’ll be seein’ ya | “See you later” |
I’ll fix it for you | “I’ll arrange it for you” |
I’ll put a stop to that | “I’ll solve that problem” |
I’ll tell the world! | “I agree with you!” |
I’m from Missouri | “Prove it!” |
I’m wise | “I understand”, “I’m aware of what’s going on here” |
In a big way | Very much so |
In a pig’s eye | “Like hell!” |
In the groove | On a roll |
In the pink | Healthy |
In wrong | To have a bad reputation with someone, often mistakenly |
In your hat! | Short for “Go shit in your hat!”, equivalent to “Shove it up your ass!” |
Is my face red! | “I’m so embarrassed!” |
It was this way | “This is what happened”, prefacing an explanation |
It’s all over but the shouting | “It’s practically done!” |
It’s good for what ails you | “It’ll make you feel better” |
It’s in the bag | It’s all taken care of, it’s a sure thing |
I’ve got a T.L. for you | “There’s something you should know” |
Jake | Good, fine |
Jane | Girl |
Joint | Place, building or house |
K.O. | Variation of “OK” |
Keep your shirt on! | “Be patient!” |
Lay off | To leave alone |
Louse | A contemptible person |
Make it snappy! | “Hurry up!” |
Mug | Face; or a crude disreputable person |
Mum’s the word | “It’s a secret.” |
My big moment | Potential boyfriend or girlfriend |
Nertz! | “The hell with it!” |
Nix | “Stop!”, “Don’t do that!” |
Number | A song |
Oh yeah? | “I don’t believe you” |
Old maid | A spinster |
On the bum | Defective or mediocre |
On the level | Honest, sincere |
On the make | Looking for sex |
On the spot | In a difficult situation |
Out of this world | Amazing |
Palooka | A stupid or crude person |
Pan/puss/map | Face |
Phony | Artificial, insincere, or hypocritical |
Piker | Cheapskate |
Pipe down! | “Be quiet!” |
Plenty | A lot, or to a great extent |
Punk | Awful |
Quit yerkiddin’!/clowning | “Stop joking around!” |
Racket | A fraudulent business |
Riding for a fall | Asking for trouble |
Rub out | To murder |
Sap/dunce | A fool or idiot |
Say! | “Listen!”, “Wait a minute!” |
Says you! | “I disagree!”, “I don’t believe you!” |
Scram! | “Get out of here!” |
Screwball | A crazy or eccentric person |
See? | “Understand?” |
Sitting pretty | Carefree |
So help me! | “I mean it!” |
Sore | Angry |
So’s your old man! | “To hell with you!” |
Sowing wild oats | To behave recklessly |
Sucker | A gullible or naive person |
Swell | Excellent, wonderful, great |
Take a shine to | To like |
Take the rap | To accept blame |
That ain’t hay | “That’s a lot of money!” |
That lets me out | “I would be of no help whatsoever to you in that situation” |
That’s a hot one! | “Bullshit!” |
The berries | Wonderful |
The low-down | Gossip |
There are no flies on you! | “You know what you’re doing!” |
Through | Finished, or fired |
Tickled pink | Extremely pleased |
To be off one’s nut | To act in an insane or eccentric way |
To be on the lam | To have escaped from prison or the police |
To be stuck on | To have a crush on |
To be true to | To be monogamous and faithful |
To blow one’s top | To lose one’s temper |
To buffalo | To confuse or deceive |
To call it square/square oneself | To deal with someone fairly and make things even |
To do things up brown | To do an excellent job |
To get one’s goat | To frustrate or anger |
To give one a tumble | To pay attention to, give one a fair chance, or to engage in physical intimacy |
To give one the air | To contemptuously ignore or mistreat |
To give one the runaround | To be evasive |
To give one the slip | To evade or escape from |
To go to town/to paint the town red | To party, have a good time |
To gum the works | To screw up or ruin something |
To have a bun on | To be drunk |
To jilt | To leave or reject one’s lover |
To know one’s onions | To be knowledgeable and confident |
To lay an egg | To fail |
To lick | To defeat, or beat up |
To make a bum out of | To belittle or cause to appear foolish |
To make it hot for one | To cause trouble |
To neck | To make out |
To pan | To denigrate or belittle |
To pinch | To arrest |
To pitch woo | To make out |
To railroad | To con |
To rate | To deserve |
To rib | To playfully make fun of |
To ride | To ridicule or make fun of |
To salt away | To save in storage |
To savvy | To comprehend |
To settle someone’s hash | To silence someone |
To slip one a mickey | To poison one’s drink |
To sock | To punch |
To spill the beans | To reveal a secret |
To spoon | To kiss |
To turn turtle | To overturn or change around |
Tomato | An attractive young woman |
Toots | Term of address to a woman |
Washed up | A complete failure |
Well-heeled | Rich |
Wet blanket | A spoilsport |
Whadaya know about that? | “That’s a surprise to me!” |
What of it? | “What’s your point?” |
What’s eatin’ you? | “What’s bothering you?” |
What’s the [big] idea? | “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” |
Whoopee! | Exclamation of joy or euphemism for physical intimacy |
Wouldn’t you like to know? | “I’m not telling!” |
Yellow | Cowardly |
Yen | Desire |
You ain’t just whistling Dixie! | “You’re not kidding!” |
You bet! | “I agree with you!” |
You don’t know the half of it | “You can’t imagine how bad it really is!” |
You don’t say! | “Really?!” |
You said it! | “You’re absolutely right!” |
You want to make something out of it? | “Are you trying to start a fight?” |
You’re telling me! | “You’re not kidding!” |
You’ve got me all wrong | “You misunderstand me!” |
Suggestions? Confusion? Other slang and sayings from the pre-Code Hollywood era that we’re missing out on? Leave a comment below!
12 Comments
Andrew Gilmore · June 14, 2014 at 4:56 am
Gee, thanks for the swell plug, chum! I was too lazy to alphabetize and organize the list, but you did it up brown, and how! I’ll be seein’ ya.
Danny · June 16, 2014 at 11:30 pm
Totally! Yeah, my preferred method for alphabetizing things is Excel which unfortunately ate up your quotation marks. But I’ll have you know that the page appears quite popular. Thanks for letting me share it!
chuckinsandiego · August 28, 2014 at 5:42 am
Making love. As in “are you making love to me?”. Back then is was used to say in today’s parlance …”are you coming on to me?”.
Lynn · January 31, 2015 at 10:29 am
I have a feeling that I’m longer in the tooth (older!) than you are ;-). Here are some additions to definitions, based on the way I’ve heard the words/phrases used:
All wet–often means “all wrong”
Bird refers to a woman as well–in fact, I’ve never heard it used to refer to a guy–weird, huh?
“Bury the hatchet” means to forget about the argument or disagreement (bury the enmity) rather than to settle it.
A cad is an ungentlemanly man who treats a woman poorly, specifically by ruining her reputation
“May I cut in?” was a way to take away another guy’s partner during a dance.
Don’t take any wooden nickels=don’t fall for any tricks–be street wise
“Wise” is like “savvy”–wise to the ways of the world
It’s all over but the shouting = the action or event is over (or decided). All that’s left is the reaction.
Joint-originally a word for a “low-class” place
Racket originally referred to mob-controlled business, especially extortion,if I’m not mistaken.
Sitting pretty=in good financial circumstances (often used sarcastically–undeserved $, or fake innocence)
Sowing wild oats = young men’s reckless but tolerated behavior before settling down to marriage (boys will
be boys).
The low-down = the truth
There are no flies on you! (because you’re moving too fast for them to land). Quick-witted, fast thiinking.
I’m loving this site, by the way!
Philosopher Jay · January 23, 2017 at 6:41 am
YOU’RE A PEACH, Lynn. At first, I thought this site was NIFTY, but now I see WHAT’S WHAT, Tell this young UPSTART, I’m MOVING IN ON THE ACTION. ARE YOU GAME, Lynn? We better MAKE A DASH FOR IT.
HERE’S MUD IN YOUR EYE.
Peter Hyatt · May 24, 2015 at 7:30 am
I love this site. I pull up a cup of joe and relax and read.
Danny · May 25, 2015 at 3:04 pm
Thanks!
Mike W2LO · November 18, 2016 at 2:18 am
“It’s Jake with me if you if you have a roll in the hay with that Jane”, said the torpedo to the boss.
John Carpenter aka The Movie Man · January 18, 2017 at 2:44 pm
ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING A COLLECTION ! The thought of doing this has come to me each & every time I watch a 30’s picture ! SUCH A COMPILATION OF ADJECTIVES & THEIR DESCRIPTIVE MEANINGS IS INCREDABLY VALUABLE TO A GEBRE RECREATIVE FILMMAKER SUCH AS I & FILM HISTORIANS ! THANK YOU for taking the time & effort to make this needed list a reality — IT IS A DARB ! regards John Carpenter aka The Movie Man
Elise · January 18, 2017 at 3:25 pm
To be “all in”—which I think means feeling under the weather or just wanting to chill out. I love your list!
Elise M. Fila · January 23, 2017 at 10:46 am
CAKE EATER –an effeminate party-going dandy. Here is a song with the term–from the late 20’s–HELP!. You wouldn’t believe the lyrics.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PJb4CIdyfw
John Carpenter · March 6, 2017 at 9:27 am
THIS WAS A DARB !!! And a very much needed info text to have when finding oneself at the local Speak & wanting to say just the right thing – in just the right period slang way when trying to make a Hocha Mamma get blistering ! Truly swellegant ! John Carpenter