Time magazine, 1963, on black slang

Undercover Black Man has posted a fascinating article from an August 1963 issue of Time magazine, which tried to pull the cover off some of the black slang of the day for white folks:

A white man who attended a Negro civil rights rally as a spectator might well be puzzled to hear a speaker say "Now let's get down to the nitty-gritty."....

When U.S. Negroes talk to one an other, their speech is often marbled with expressions incomprehensible to whites. Since slavery days, Negroes have created an ever-changing argot of their own, full of ambiguities, tinged with humor and sorrow.

Some of those incomprehensibilities that are pretty comprehensible 45 years later: "put down," "busted," "fuzz," and "fox." The article also explains "ace boon coon," which is still in circulation but probably wouldn't make the pages of Time today unless it was a direct quote.

UCB adds his own memories:

When I was coming up, only black folks would say “from the get-go.” Now, only white folks say it.

“Mickey D’s” is another one. That went from black slang to corporate asset in one generation. McDonald’s calls itself Mickey D’s nowadays. I even saw it on a McDonald’s receipt one time.

But as years pass, white people tend to forget where these words came from. Us too. I didn’t know, until I bought the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, that “the Big Apple” was originally black slang for New York.

I didn't know that either.

Busted.

Comments

[Jil]

I had no idea "phat" was that old. Fascinating article -- thanks for putting that up.

[oyster]

"But as years pass, white people tend to forget where these words came from. Us too. I didn’t know, until I bought the Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, that “the Big Apple” was originally black slang for New York."

Perhaps more interestingly, the "Big Apple" moniker was invented in New Orleans.

http://righthandthief.blogspot.com/2007/11/comparing-apples-to-easies.html

[Kevin]

Thanks, Oyster - that's fascinating I'd never read that before and had no idea.