Thursday, March 3, 2011
EXPRESSION, JARGON, SLANG: SINGAPORE 60s CULTURAL SCENE
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"Oh man dig that crazy baby!" We don't use an expression like that anymore do we? A person usually speaks and uses vocabulary within a certain context or cultural surrounding. When that cultural environment disappears, the expression, jargon or slang used within that context disappears too. Below is a list of expressions and questions that are hardly used today.
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1 Please switch off the transistor.
2 How many EPs can you stack on the record player?
3 I like your stylish bee-hive.
4 I go ape with the programs on Rediffusion.
5 Larry Lai's a real, cool dude.
6 Can't put anymore records in the radiogram.
7 Dig the crazy crowd at the National Theatre!
8 Little Richard, he sure likes to ball...
9 Here's a request from pen-pal Elvis Renaldo Sim for Lulu Sandra Ho...
10 I'm dialling my chick's number again.
11 Can I borrow your song book to copy, 'Rock Around The Clock?'
12 Can you do the off-beat with me?
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1 Please switch off the transistor.
2 How many EPs can you stack on the record player?
3 I like your stylish bee-hive.
4 I go ape with the programs on Rediffusion.
5 Larry Lai's a real, cool dude.
6 Can't put anymore records in the radiogram.
7 Dig the crazy crowd at the National Theatre!
8 Little Richard, he sure likes to ball...
9 Here's a request from pen-pal Elvis Renaldo Sim for Lulu Sandra Ho...
10 I'm dialling my chick's number again.
11 Can I borrow your song book to copy, 'Rock Around The Clock?'
12 Can you do the off-beat with me?
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13 Hey, where're my Beatle boots?
14 Hey, play that new 78 we just bought.
15 New typewriting ribbons to copy lines from 'Peyton Place.'
16 Let's go to the Celestial Room this weekend.
17 Wow! I like your latest beatnik look.
18 Lots of cool cats at the Hotel Prince Garni tea-dance.
19 I like your Elvis sideburns.
20 Get me some fags and a bottle of Coke.
21 This singles costs me a dollar eighty.
22 Hey, Edmundo Ros' live on radio now.
23 My black and white's in the dump.
24 Don't have bread to buy a new color one.
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25 So psychedelic! I love it.
26 Teddy boys crowding the phone booth.
27 I am going steady with Jane.
28 You like some sky juice?
29 Your moon-glasses make you hip.
30 We were making out at Mount Faber.
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These expressions are only a fraction of what 60s vocabulary can offer and with a little imagination and memory the list can go on. But how did it all start? The clues are below:
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Lyrics (mid 50s to early 60s):
1 'Put your glad rags on and join me hon' (Rock Around The Clock)
2 'Sure like to ball, when you hear your mama call' (Good Golly Miss Molly)
3 'A movin' and a groovin' gonna satisfy my soul' (Party)
4 'Three to get ready, now go cat go' (Blue Suede Shoes)
5 'You don't like hot-rod racin', you're so square' (Baby I Don't Care)
6 'I'll be flyin' high, rock on out to the open sky' (Rip It Up)
7 'A honky tonky Joe was standin' at the door' (Party)
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So like words, fashion changes too.
Image 1: A beehive hairdo.
Image 2: A hippie.
Image 3: A fashionable 60s evening gown. Not the Merlion but definitely a Merlady. Swan Records SE 4556 "Off Beat Cha Cha." with The Wedding, Dream, We Meet Again and We Need Each Other. Andy Lim Collection.
