How many of these 60s slang terms do you know?

How many of these 60s slang terms do you know?

Ah, the 1960s. It had quite a lot of bad things (like apartheid, the Vietnam War, nuclear testing, and Val Doonican) but it's mainly remembered for being a decade of social change and a general loosening up about sex, drugs, and rock and roll. The 60s was the era of platform shoes and flared jeans, questionable recreational drug use, and psychedelia. And, just like all generations, the young people of the era developed a language all of their own. Much of the slang that emerged from this magical decade remain in the common lexicon, but there's some words that have died a death. Well, we're here to revive those dead and buried slang terms - so stick a daisy chain around your neck, drop out of college, and put the needle on the record. How many of these 1960s slang terms can you recognise and translate?

If somebody had "beef" with you, what - exactly - did that mean?

What was a "load"?

What was someone's "pad"?

If our long-haired ancestors in the 1960s were said to "go ape", what had they done?

If something was a "pisser", was that good or bad?

What was "bread", (other than the doughy, yeasty loafy-type thing)?

What was acid to 60s hippies?

What did it mean to "crash"?

What is someone saying about someone if they're describing them as an "egg head"?

What would have been your "main squeeze"?

Who were the "five-O"?

If someone was "going round the bend", what were they doing?

What type of vehicle was described as a "pork chop"?

Who would be coming if someone shouted "hey, hide your stash - it's the pigs!"?

What did it mean if someone had "punked out"?

If someone described an activity as "not exactly brain surgery" what did they mean?

If something was described as "mint", what did it mean?

If you were "rapping" in the 1960s, what were you doing?

What is someone saying if they describe something as "grotty"?

If you were "jetting: what would you be doing?

When 1960s conspiracy theorists talked about Big Brother, who were they talking about?

If something is "a little out there", what is it?

If something was described as "heavy", what did that mean?

What would a 1960s dude have done with "shades"?

If somebody was "full of it", what did that mean?

Who was your "old man" (think Joni Mitchell)?

If someone described a place as "a bad scene", what would they have meant?

If something was "cool", was it:

If something was "far out", what did it mean?

What word came into wider use as a popular sentence filler in the 1960s?

60s dudes and dudettes were excited if they had "scratch" (or maybe some didn't care). What is "scratch"?

If you "dig" someone's threads, you:

If something was described as "killer", what did THAT mean?

If a man was described as a "Ken Doll", what would someone be REALLY saying?

If someone said "exactamundo" they weren't having a stroke, they were saying:

How many of these 60s slang terms do you know?

Your score:

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Mike Heath

Mike has an MA in Creative Writing and is a full-time copywriter, yoga teacher, and playwright. His copywriting has taken him to dizzy heights: writing in every conceivable niche from facts about carpet slippers to portents about artificial intelligence and how to overcome plantar fasciitis (look it up) to fabulous home decor. Mike is a UK-based playwright whose work has been performed all around the world (as long as you count the UK and Western Australia). His work is available on Amazon, and you can listen to his podcast where he talks about playwriting with his sarcastic co-presenter. He runs the WriteForTheStage courses and you can follow him on @Write4TheStage (Twitter) and @_mike_heath_ on Instagram.