In 1983, the
venerable British pop magazine Smash Hits (sadly no longer with us) published a
feature called “The Things People Said,” in which Tom Hibbert pulled together a
lexicon of youth slang, across the rocking ’50s, the groovy ’60s, the hippy
’70s and the heavy metal ’80s. For a young fan of pop culture and inventive
uses of the English language (hello!), it was quite the eye-opener.
For example,
teddy boys in the 1950s would refer to hair dye as “roof paint,” whereas their
groovy ’60s successors would refer to the most astonishing of musical delights
as being “ghosty,” and if you wanted to wake up a hippy, the thing to should
would be “hey man, unscrabble your lids!”
One section
is particularly interesting and should be required reading for anyone besotted
by ’60s mod culture.
As you may
know, the mods were a tight-knit London clique, created by young men obsessed
with sharp clothes, scooters and general peacocking. Their credo (according to
self-styled scene spokesman Pete Meaden) was “clean-living under difficult
circumstances,” which gives a hint as to their fastidious and judgmental
nature. This is further revealed when you examine some of the common slang
terms the original mods used, some of which could stand a revival: -
Face
A face is a
good mod; someone with the right clothes, the right haircut and the right taste
in soul music and ska. An especially good mod would be an ace face or, more
properly, THE ace face.
Ticket
A ticket is a
bad mod, someone still wearing last week’s fashion, slightly grown-out hair,
and not enough/too many mirrors on his scooter. It comes from third-class
ticket, a reference to train fares.
Both of these
terms were put to good use in “I’m The Face,” the debut single by the High
Numbers, who shortly afterwards changed their name to the Who.
Seven and six
The mod
lifestyle was about conspicuous spending on quality goods. Suits had to be
tailored, not bought off-the-peg, and anyone who did turn up at an all-nighter wearing
a low-cost version of mod fashion would be labelled a seven and six. The
numbers are a reference to pre-decimalized British currency and the cost of
cheap T-shirts in Woolworths.
Flashkick
A delightful
experience, a giddy thrill. You’ve heard of teenagers doing things just for
kicks? These are flasher.
Deck
A term used
to describe poking fun at someone, as in “Did you see me decking those tickets?
What a flashkick!” Although in more recent British slang to deck someone means
to hit them, with the inference that you’ve hit them hard enough to knock them
over.
And while
we’re on fighting…
Jump through
Mods liked to
fight. They fought with rockers, they fought with fake mods, and they fought with
themselves if there was no one else about. To engage in a fight with someone
was to jump through them.
Number
A number was
a run-of-the-mill mod, if you can imagine such a thing. Which when you bear in
mind quite how special each mod considered himself to be, being considered just
one of the herd was a stern insult indeed. But being a high number (like the
High Numbers) was quite the compliment. The term was picked up by
mod-revivalist Paul Weller in the early days of the Jam, when he wrote the song
“Away From the Numbers,” although he seems to be talking more about being on
his own than being the very acest face in the place.
Gab up
To get
dressed, something that could take a very long time indeed, especially when you
remember the lengths your average mod would go to in order to get their clothes
ready for wear. That thing about sitting in a bath wearing a pair of Levi’s to
shrink them down to a skin-tight fit, that must’ve taken DAYS.
Sources: -
The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang
and Unconventional Language
Tom Hibbert – Rockspeak!
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