This glossary was borrowed from several sources, including The Holy Barbarians, a similar list found in the booklet that comes with the Rhino Beat Generation tapes, and World Wide Web material for history classes on the Hip (primary source is the Wild Bohemian website). It's undoubtedly incomplete, but at least it gives you an idea what we're talking about.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T U W Y
A
Acid: Short for LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). You know, it's that drug that causes Hippies to glow in the dark.
Acid Gas: Empty capsules that have been dosed with LSD from an eye dropper. They called them acid gas because there was nothing in them but air. This was done in the very early days of the Hippies (1965) and discontinued when the police caught on. The tablets came next.
Acid Test: A multi-media happening where everyone takes acid and digs the scene.
Action: What's happening. Later usage: a political demonstration or protest.
Axe: Any musical instrument. Any tool you use to do your art, like the computer I'm using right now. Dig?
B
Baby: Term of endearment, applied to cats or chicks.
Bad acid: It was Woodstock that made this term popular. I have no idea of what went wrong with the acid at Woodstock, but the term has become such a cliche that they used it in the movie Airplane II more than 10 years later.
Bad scene, trip: Any situation that bohemians tend to avoid. Also known as a bring-down, a bummer.
Bag(1): A quantity of drugs usually sold as a unit, such as a lid of grass.
Bag(2): (as "in the bag") A done deal. Mission accomplished.
Bag(3): Profession, work, interest, similar use as thing as in, "That's just his bag, man."
Ball: As a noun, a good time; as a verb, sexual intercourse.
Bennies: Benzedrine pills.
Beatnik: This is the word Herb Caen coined for the Beat Generation in the summer of 1958. Of course, the Beats didn't like being called beatniks any more than the Diggers liked being called Hippies.
Beautiful: Another word used to describe a groovy situation or person as in, it's beautiful, man, or you're beautiful, man.
Beautiful People: Another term for the Hippies. It is believed that this term came from the letters they wrote their parents.
Berkeley: The counterculture had two epicenters. The artistic epicenter was of course, the Haight-Ashbury, but the political epicenter was Berkeley. The purpose of the Human Be-in was to bring these two factions of Hippies together.
Biker: Kind of like the opposite of a flower child, like a 200+ pound Digger on speed, with a lot of tattoos, who drinks a lot of beer and whiskey, and rides a Harley, and fights a lot. A real hot cat (see hot).
Blast: Exciting bohemian happening or party. Example: Man, the whole orchestra is tuning up for the blast.
Blotter: A type of acid in the form of a dosed blotter. This type of acid didn't appear until about 1973, after the era of Owsley acid.
Blow: To play an instrument; to depart; to make. Example: Wow, like that Dizzy Gillespie cat really knows how to blow.
Blow off: To abort going somewhere or doing something. Example: When the teens rushed the stage, the Pranksters had to blow off the Beatles concert.
Box: Record player (guess where boom box came from).
Bread: Money. Example: Man, like can you lay some bread on me?
Bro: Short for brother. Bikers use this a lot, but Beats and Hippies seemed to prefer man.
Bugged: Bothered, annoyed. Example: Man, like you really bug me.
Bummer: Any bad situation, especially a bad trip. Original Hells Angel term for motorcycle wipeout.
Burn, burned: To do someone wrong or to have been done wrong, especially concerning dope deals and artist, manager relationships. Similar to rip-off.
Bust(ed): Arrested. Replaced earlier Beat term, tapped
Back to TopC
Cap: Short for capsules.
Cat: The wild, swinging, uninhibited, nonconformist male bohemians.
Chick: As above, except female.
Citizen: Biker term for square. They got this word from the cops, who kept using it when they were balling them out.
-City: Suffix used for emphasis similar to -Ville. Examples: drag city, surf city, squaresville, nowheresville.
Clyde: Bumpkin, square, maybe even moron. Example: Man, like I just about had the deal in the bag when this clyde showed up and ruined everything.
Colors: A Levi jacket with the sleeves cut off and the name of the motorcycle club on the back (or "No club" or "Lone Wolf" for bikers not belonging to any club).
Commune: This is where Hippies live as a group. Unlike the traditional nuclear family, consisting of husband, wife and children, Hippies tend to live in extended families. This was a result of the work that Hippies did (rock bands just about have to live as a group) and also because of the San Francisco housing situation (pads tended to be bigger than one cat and chick could handle.
Connection: Contact person for drugs.
Cool: A cat who's laid back. Also said of anything that sends you, whether cool jazz or a cool chick-unless you like 'em hot (see Hot).
Cool it: Relax, calm down; leave, knock it off.
Cop out: Not to come through for your brothers and sisters, to not do your share of the work.
Counterculture: This is the academic deoderant word for bohemians, who realized that many of the Hippies resented being called Hippies, and many of the Beats disliked being called beatniks.
Crash: That's what you do when you call it a day and go to sleep. Also meant to come down from a drug.
Crazy: Anything that meets with a bohemian's approval. Opposite of drag. Example: Wow, like dig that crazy chick.
Cut out: To take ones leave, to split. Example: "Like let's cut out of here, man."
D
Dad, Daddy, Daddyo: Endearment for males, sometimes sarcastic like in the case of the pregnant chick in the example. Example: Hey Big Daddy, like remember that crazy happening we had a few months ago?
Dig: Understand, appreciate, approve of, enjoy, do you dig me, man?
Digger: The faction of Hippies extremely opposed to any kind of materialism, the HIP merchants (see HIP) and the marketing of a Summer of Love. They were more into activism than the other Hippies, who were more into their art.
Dose: 1. A hit of acid. 2. To spike something (usually Kool-Aid) or someone with acid. Example: Jerry, we can't play the next set because somebody dosed Pigpen's beer and he's all flipped out.
Drag: A bore, disappointment. Anything that doesn't meet with a bohemian's approval.
Dude: This word came into being when it became impolite to call Blacks spades. It just didn't sound right to call someone a Black cat so the phrase "Black dude" came into use. Today, dude and cat have about the same meaning.
Dyke: A homosexual female.
E
Eyes: (as in "...has eyes for...") Desires; like. Example: Boy Jerry, that Janis Joplin chick really has eyes for Pigpen.
F
Fag: Short for faggot. A male homosexual (old term, Hippies used the newer, gay).
Fall by: Visit. Example: Let's fall by Ginsberg's pad and see if he's got the manuscript ready.
Fall in: Arrive, show up, make the scene.
Fall out: Pass out from an overdose of drugs. Later became nod out.
Far out: Taking things to the limits known as Edge City (as Tom Wolfe calls it). Unusual, unconventional.
Fascist: (as in fascist pig) This word came from the opression that occured at the Democratic Convention in Chicago. It usually referred to some authority (such as the police) politicians, or people into materialism (like Bill Graham).
Flip out: To go nuts. The men in the clean white coats have to swoop you up in a butterfly net and drag you screaming and kicking all the way to that funny looking ward building with all the bars on it that goes by the name of Disturbed.
Fix: A shot of heroin or some other drug.
Flaky: Unreliable or unpredictable performance.
Flower Children: These were the Hippies who were more into art than activism.
Frantic: Frenzied. See Crazy.
Freak: Hippie is an outsiders name (much like beatnik), freak is the insiders name (much like beat). Note: Frank Zappa may have coined this term (see below).
Freak out: Usually means a bad acid trip, but could be anything that upsets a cat or chick. Frank Zappa used the term on his first album to mean any action or happening that brings the freaks out; a gathering of freaks. Example: Boy that cleaning lady really started to freak out when she saw Colin drop that tray of food all over the carpet.
Free love: This was one of the results of the so-called sexual revoution that happened in the 60's because of the introduction of the birth control pill. Later spin-offs of this include Gay liberation and Women's liberation.
Fucked up: Usually means intoxicated, feeling good.
Funky: Old French, funicle, terrible. Latin, phreneticus (see frantic). In the forties, Mezz Mezzrow defined it as stench, smelly obnoxious. Today it means "that happy-sad feeling" according to some jazz musicians.
Fuzz: Another name for police. Example: Like I was rapping with the fuzz and they expect a million and a half people here by tonight.
G
Gang bang: (also gang shag) Sequential sexual intercourse of a chick by many cats.
Gas: Supreme, tops, the most, really makes it. Probably from nitrous oxide, it's a gas.
Gay: New word for homosexual. Replaced the earlier fag sometime in the 60's.
Gig: Literal meaning: musical performance. Looser meaning: your work. Even looser: your trip.
Getting off: Feeling a drug start to take effect, enjoying (digging) something.
Gone: The most, the farthest out. If you go far out enough, you're gone - "out of this world."
Grass: It's not the stuff cows eat, it's the herb Hippies like to smoke - in other words, marijuana.
Green: Ignorant, not in the know. I don't know where these color words for people's traits came from, but they turn up in the surfer and biker movies (see yellow).
Grok: From the book Stranger in a Strange Land sitting in Ken Kesey's living room at La Honda. Meaning: to fully understand some concept both intellectually and intuitively. A complete Gestalt usually done at a group level.
Groovy: Also in the groove. Enjoyable, fun, a good time, swinging, opposite of bummer.
H
H: Short for Heroin.
Hang up: Also hung up. An obstacle in the way to accomplishing your goal. Examples: Like we all have our hang ups, man. Like I tried to get to the festival man, but the traffic was like all hung up.
Happening: The place where the action takes place (could be anything from a poetry reading to an Acid Test). Example: Hey Big Daddy, like remember that crazy happening we had a few months ago.
Head: Another insider term for Hippie. Like with freak, sometimes a prefix is added to indicate what kind of head, as in acid head, pot head, etc. Ken Kesey seemed to prefer this word.
Head shop: A place where heads shop, that sells pipes, roach clips, cigarette papers, posters, underground newspapers, Hippie attire, rock concert tickets and similar items.
Heat, the: Another name for the police.
High: In a euphoric state, from drugs or some other stimulus.
Hip: Here's the best definitions I've found on this so far (and another one that's way off base). HIP: Short for Haight Independent Proprietors. This is the faction of the Hippies that were always at odds with the Diggers. They tended to be optimists, who wanted to turn on the whole world to what was happening in the Haight-Ashbury. The Diggers didn't like this idea because they somehow knew what would happen if everyone came flocking down to the Haight-Ashbury for a Summer of Love. Judging from what happened when the hordes came and the Summer of Love went belly up, it looks like the Diggers were right!
Hipster: One who is in the know, a cool cat who's part of the scene. To be more precise, hipsters were the Black jazz musicians, but the Beats didn't use it that way.
Hit: A single dose of a drug, usually acid.
Hit up: To inject a drug.
Hog: A biker's motorcycle (usually a big Harley).
Holding: In possession of drugs or a large sum of money.
Horse: Old term for heroin. Usually called smack or junk.
Hot: A cat who does things to the max. - like Kerouac - "...burn, burn like fabulous yellow Roman candles..."
Hustle: Usually refers to illegal work, like prostitution or selling drugs.
Hype: 1. Old term for someone who injects drugs. Now called needle freak. 2. Excessive publicity, such as the hyping of the Summer of Love.
I
In: (As in be-in, love-in, teach-in, etc.)Where it's at, where the action is, where it's happening. Usually a gathering of freaks. The word preceeding the in describes the type of gathering.
J
Jive: Offensive; no-good. Example: He's just giving you a bunch of jive, man.
Joint: A marijuana cigarette. Replaced the earlier term, reefer, but I have no idea when.
K
Key: A kilogram (2.2 pounds) of marijuana.
Kicks: Wild and crazy things that get cats and chicks high or things they dig doing. Also, bohemian's obsessions, which could be anything from goldfish swallowing (yuck) to homosexual beatniks carrying on in the dormitories of Colombia University (the crazy new kick the Dean hoped that the students will not discover). Example: "Dig this crazy new kick," shouts Jack as he tosses a full pitcher of beer up in the air (reliable sources say Kerouac actually did that).
L
Laid back: Relaxed, not in a hurry, not easily upset, a cool cat.
Later: When you're ready to split the scene, you say, "later" and cut out. When you don't want to hassle with it now, you also say "later."
Lay: To have sex.
Lay on: To give as in "Could you lay a few reds on me, man?"
Lid: An ounce of marijuana (replaced the earlier can).
Light my (your) Fire: To turn somebody on or to be turned on by somebody (usually sexually).
Like: The theory of relativity applied to reality. Like that's your reality, man.
M
Make: To act, as in "make the scene." To "make it" may be said of anything that succeeds, whether a dental appointment or a crazy chick.
Man: The generic way of addressing a cat.
Man, the: Another name for the police (or the establishment in general).
Meth: Short for Methamphetamine (speed).
Mike: Short for microgram. Example: "How many mikes are this tab?"
Mind Blowing: Anything that tends to overload the senses, such as strong acid, a light show or a situation like Woodstock, where the number of people who showed up was really mind blowing.
Most: Greatest; furthest out. Example: Like that new chick's the most.
N
Nutty: Also nuts. Good; wild; hip. Example: Pigpen would go nuts over a motorcycle like this.
O
One Percenter: A real bad-ass dude. From the Hells Angels and picked up on by the Diggers.
Orange Sunshine: A type of Owsley acid that first appeared in the ealry 70's (in other words, not something you'd simulate at Stardust).
Out of Sight: As far out as you can get. The grooviest.
Owsley: The best acid ever made. Owsley was the name of the person who manufactured it. It was around from 1965 to about 1972. It was usually in tablet form, the colors of which were changed regularly to prevent bogus acid from being sold as "Owsley" acid.
P
Pad: Where one crashes, a cat's home is his pad.
Peak: When a drug reaches maximum effect. From peak experience.
Pick up on: To observe a routine you dig and add it to your way of doing things.
Pig: The final Hippie word for a cop, coined about the time of the Democratic Convention in Chicago (1968).
Plastic: A Hippie word for fake or imitation as in plastic Hippie. Frank Zappa may have coined this word.
Pot: Marijuana.
Put on: To fool or kid someone.
R
Rap: To speak the language of hip. Bad rap: Bad situation. Example: Like I was rapping with the fuzz and they expect a million and a half people here by tonight.
Riff: story; conversation, musical expression.
Rip off: To steal material things or ideas. I'm sure that every bohemian has ripped off a square at one time or another, but that's cool because we're just starving artists just trying to pay the bills. What's a real drag is when a square (usually a manager) rips off an artist.
Ripped: Same as stoned.
Reds: You know, they're the little red capsules they like to dole out the night before shock treatment day (Seconal).
Right on: Generally said when one bohemian approves of another's idea or action.
Reefer: This is a very old term for marijuana, which probably dates all the way back to the Lost Generation. Hippies probably would have never used this term if it hadn't been for cult films like "Reefer Madness."
Roach: A small butt of marijuana.
Roach clip: Instrument you use to smoke a roach.
Rush: Also rushing. Some drugs produce a rush feeling.
S
Sandoz: The name of the pharmaceutical company that first synthesized LSD. It came in the form of 25 microgram pills (not many people ever saw these) and in the form of ampoules containing 1 ml. solution containing 100 micrograms of LSD. The only way to get the LSD out of the ampoule was to break the top off.
Scoff: eat food (replaced by wolf down).
Score: Succeed; acquire. Example: Like it wasn't easy, but I finally scored some acid.
Sides: Phonograph records, as in, "Let's play some sides."
Smack: Another term for heroin.
Smashed: Same as stoned.
Space out: Also spaced out. To forget to do something, as in, " Like I kind of spaced it out, man." Also means not feeling quite up to par, as in, "I feel really spaced out today," or, "I feel really spacy today."
Spade: Old term for Afro-American. Replaced by the word, Black.
Speed: Methamphetamine .
Split: As in "I've got to split the scene, man." It means you've got to cut out (leave).
Stash: The place where you hide your drugs. Also, to hide drugs. Applies to other things as well, such as, "How do I stash my home page on the server?"
Straight: This Hippie term replaced the earlier square but I don't like it, because whenever someone uses it, I have to ask, "straight in what way?" Straight could mean, not hip, not gay, not doing drugs and god knows what else. Let's stick with square, because everyone knows what that means, or at least they will when they read this list.
Street theater: This is what the Pranksters did. It's where you do some kind of skit that passers-by don't know is a skit, but think it's for real. If you know what you're doing, you can really blow people's minds. This was done a lot at protests and similar actions to prove some point. One book about the Hippies calls it "instant theater."
Strobing: This is one of the visual effects produced by LSD. It is most noticeable when the drug first takes effect and again when it starts to wear off. Informed sources say the strobing effect is caused by the alpha rhythm of the brain modulating the visual field, which produces a flicker effect (it's about the right speed/frequency).
Stoned: Under the influence of some drug (to get technical about it).
Strung out: That's what too much speed or not enough sleep make you. A nervous wreck.
Square: Conformist, Organization Man, solid citizen, anyone who doesn't swing and isn't with it. Also called Creep and Cornball. Man, if you still don't dig me, you'll never be anything but...
Swing: To let yourself go with the flow.
T
Tab: Short for tablet (LSD used to come in tablets before they came out with the blotter).
Tapped: Broke; arrested (replaced by the term busted).
Tea: It's not the drink that Victorian squares like to serve in the afternoon, it's the herb that Beat Generation cats and chicks like to smoke.
Teeny Boppers: The Beats named us Hippies, so we returned the favor to the younger generation and named them teeny boppers. Also groupies.
Thing: This is a word Hippies used a lot, in similar ways as trip. Used to describe someone's traits. Examples: That's just not his thing, man. Do your own thing, man. (A Hippie's way of saying, be yourself).
Toak: To take a drag (inhale the smoke) from a joint. Also toke.
Tossed: Searched by the fuzz (you know, they toss all your stuff around, dig?).
Trip: A psychedelic experience. Later use: replaced the term, kick or used like thing. Examples: Let's go tripping. What a trip, man. That's just his trip, man.
Turn on: To take drugs or to grok some concept.
U
Uptight: Bugged by something. Example: "Traffic Uptight at Hippie Fest" (Woodstock Headline).
W
Wail: Play; sing; talk. Later use: a happening, as in New Year's Wail (an event that happened in the Haight-Ashbury).
Wasted: Really stoned.
Wig: Brain; mind.
Wig, to: Get very excited.
Wild: About the same meaning as crazy.
Wild Man Fischer: This one's a real gas. Wild Man Fischer was a cat who would stand on a street corner and sing songs to people for a dime. His parents didn't like him doing this, so they shipped him off to the state hospital on two occasions, to see if a little electro-shock therapy would get him to stop. Well it didn't, and they probably would have given him a lobotomy over it, but luckily, he escaped and ran into Frank Zappa. Frank was so impressed with Wild Man Fischer's songs, he took him into his studio and they made a record (actually, a double album).
Way out: Variant of far out. Example: Like that's way out, man.
Wow: A word bohemians use when something gets their attention. Example: Wow, did you see that, man.
Y
Yellow: Chicken, doesn't like risk taking or kicks, doesn't like going near Edge City.
