60's Lingo

Every culture develops its own unique slang. Hippie slang was so far out there, that it seemed like a foreign language to some adults. Today, some of the words are commonly used, others disintegrated along with the hippies.

“Dig” meant to understand something, a sentence might sound like, “Yea, I dig that band.” Teens began to say goodbye to each other with counterculture clichés like, “See ya later alligator.” “Too much” meant excessive. “Heads” referred to drug-users. “Pigs” meant cops. “Far out” was a long reach beyond the comprehensible. “Groovy” meant great. “Vibes” signified the ambience of a place ofrevent. A “pad” was a place to “crash” or sleep. “Out of sight” meant terrific. “Tuning in” meant taking drugs, mainly LSD, or “acid.” “Making it” was to be successful and “making out” meant making love. Getting high on drugs was known as “freaking out,” getting “stoned,” “spaced out” or “zonked,” “tripping,” or “blowing your mind.” “Getting your head straight” meant coming out of a drug fantasy.

“Bread” referred to money. A “roach” was a marijuana cigarette butt. A “bummer” meant a bad trip. A “be-in” meant a gathering of counter culturists, particularly those using drugs. To “rap” meant to discuss. Approval was voiced with “Right on!” Throbbing rock music was described as “heavy sounds.” An “ego trip” expressed vain behavior. A young hippie trying to persuade people to love instead of fight one another was a “flower child.”

Popular slogans of the time were: “Make love, not war”; “Give peace a chance”; “Black is beautiful.” The hippies recognized that power was the decisive factor in changing society; the counterculture raised the slogans of “People Power” and “Black Power.”