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Web Exclusives:
Under the Ivy October
8, 2003: Flickshakes
and bunk The line, "You got me straight trippin', boo," is enough to bring down the house in the recent movie Bringing Down the House. Part of the humor comes from the delivery of the hip (hop) words by the hopelessly square Eugene Levy, the man with two actual left feet in the earlier movie Best in Show; but part of the humor is the language itself. Most people watching (your scribe included) have no idea what straight trippin' means, but to hear words used in a totally new context is just plain funny. Slang has been around as long as the English language itself, and the appreciation of it probably equally as long. As PAW editor Douglas Stuart '35 quoted in the October 10, 1941, issue of PAW, Carl Sandburg called slang "Language that takes off its coat, spits on its hands, and goes to work." But it goes to work in a playful way, as the ensuing PAW article on undergraduate lingo makes clear. The story is presented as an oral defense of a doctoral dissertation on "My Mother Tongue" by one "Mr. Physteriss," who explains, "While working on my 'Beowulf' in the library one day I chanced to hear two young men conversing. Their language sounded to my ears as though it bore some relation to the Anglo-Saxon, yet was strangely unintelligible to me. Further questioning revealed that these two gentlemen were representatives of a whole group who habitually talk in this manner." Believing he had made a "linguistic discovery," Mr. Physteriss chose to explore the field in his dissertation. His dubious interlocutor asks, "Suppose you give me your method of saying — well, simply that you're going out to purchase a new suit." "Right," replies Physteriss. "I'm in for a new weave. The old buck is game to render me. Let's dream off to be handled for new equipment. I favor fresh gear with the season. When the queen-bees lamp my tunic, it'll really rattle their choppers. And when they spot that teakwood on ivory, up in the front, down in the back, they're all wearing 'em, you know, I'll have every shot in the game today. With spashul kneelength cloak and sixteen bottoms the bmocs will show green all the way. After you've parked your pouches—" Translation: "It means simply that the person in question is about to acquire some clothing because his father has expressed his willingness to foot the bill. He is going to a clothing establishment to do his shopping, happy in the thought of new clothes to match the change of season. Think how the young ladies will be impressed with his sartorial splendor, especially his latest model hat. How can he be excelled? The length of his coat and narrowness of his breeches will not fail to attract the envy of the big men on campus. When his friend has washed to sleep from his eyes, he will see." We also learn that "Flickshakes and bunk" means an evening of a movie, milkshake, and bed; a "spook" is a date, perhaps to a "mingle" (football game); a "thrush" is someone who sings in the choir; and a "red-hot" is a young man looking for female companionship. An invitation to a dorm party comes out like this: "I'm booked for hooching in quarters." "Who's heeling you for grog? Or did you float one?" ("How are you paying for it? Check?) "Covered. Not a worry. Tune up your tubes for the bout." ("I'm fine. Don't worry.") "Sure, College, I'm in. Your chatter slays me." ("All right, typical college adolescent. I will be there. You make it sound too inviting to resist.") The 1940s slang is enough to make Eugene Levy's pick-up line sound
like Shakespeare. Who, come to think of it, could slay with his
chatter too.
Jane Martin ’89 is PAW's former editor-in-chief. You can reach her at paw@princeton.edu
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