Straight from the Fridge, Dad: A Dictionary of Hipster Slang

by Max Décharné

A dictionary of hipster slang.

Genres: Nonfiction, Reference, Language, Writing, Humor

224 pages, Paperback

First published November 6, 2000

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

It took me forever to go through this book - but more out of slow enjoyment than anything else. A beautifully designed dictionary of noir slang throughout the years. Not only is the text useful (of course) but also the reproduction of old noir paperbacks and images of its authors. Max Décharné is a good and knowledgeable author on anything to do with fashion, rock n' roll, and noir culture. So the reader is in good hands here. The ultimate bathtub book for me. Very enjoyable.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

"What's on the agenda, Brenda?"
"Oh, hey there, daddy."
"Say, what's the matter? You're killing me with your sad pan."
"I just don't know what to do with myself anymore. I'm a permanent resident of Dullsville."
"Yeah? Go ahead, pad my skull."
"It just seems like everything I read is by some goon from Saskatoon. It's like strictly tin ears around the block. If I could just find somewhere to wet my tonsils and dig some of that real high-tone jazz, you know?"
"I know just the book for you."
"Yeah? Lay it down, enlighten me."
"Straight From The Fridge Dad, that's where it's at these days. I'm telling you, daddy, it's a triple scream and one big yell."
"Never heard of it."
"Never heard of it? You fracture me, Elmer. Scope it out and get your wig tightened. It's gonna send you to the end."
"No foolin'?"
"No foolin', you can take that to the bank and cash it."

[Simon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Straight From The Fridge, Dad by Max Decharne

A dictionary Of Hipster Slang (www.noexit.co.uk)

I got this book in Santa's sack at crimbo and it
has been sitting on or around the coffe table
since then being dipped into and enjoyed as this
the third edition of Max's Hipster dictionary is
now revised, expanded and Illustrated!
All of the illustrations and photographs are of
the books records films and writers whose
language is used by max to eplain, why I flipped
out when I give the book the glad eye. Pics of
such classics as Go Man Go by Edward De Roo, or
Night Club Moll by Nick Baroni for me to give
the moose eye too. Max may have the morals of an
alley cat but this book does leave out all
racial epithets such as Peckerwood, kike, wop
deygo, spook from the dicitonary and also
glaringly absent is the canon of Iceberg Slim so
you will have to look elsewhere for the inside
track on Mack Daddies and Belly Flips.
That said this is a great read and if you like
any noir pulpish you don't even need to be
hooked through the bag and back again to get it!
Go tell your mainsqueeze that she's the hottest
little Nymph ever backed into a matress unless
you have to put her to bed with a shovel.
So put your needle away and go find this Killer
Diller Like yesterday, Vamoose! don't be no sob
sister whose so mean you won't even spend a
weekend. Because this book will vibrate you, and
if your troubled with the shorts do what I did
and get someone else to buy it for you!!

[Jess · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forget skinny jeans and black hair. These were the real hipsters. Fun stuff.

[Jazzy Lemon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reel in your tongue, Jazzbo, you're getting your shirt wet! This is an excellent book every hepcat should keep in his back pocket!

[Jacquelyn Lecuyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cool, but difficult to follow.

A very enjoyable read. Why was this page layout chosen? I find it hard to follow. Some of these entries appear to be run on sentences.

[Jan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and funny dictionary of noir & beatnik slang, very useful for reference and just entertaining to read straight through.

[Googz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't make a habit of just reading dictionaries, but this one was annotated enough with source-material identification, notes, and quotes from novels and films to keep it interesting. Some of the phrases and words were laugh-out-loud funny/awesome, but just reading the book straight through, it's hard to commit any of them to memory for later use. I'll keep it mostly as a reference book, something to thumb through if I have a particular sort of thing I want to say, or for when I hear a phrase in a movie or read one in a book that I can't quite parse on my own.

It's called "A Dictionary Of Hipster Slang," but a lot of the slang seems to have nothing to do with hipsters, and comes more from crime novels (Jim Thompson, Raymond Chandler, et cetera) as used by Private Dicks and the like. Of course, I've never known exactly what "hipster" meant, and no doubt it's changed since the first half of the 20th century (which this book focuses on). It seems more like A Dictionary Of Rebel Teenager Slang From The First Half Of The Twentieth Century, in fact. Still, some phrases and words that would make you sound pretty cool (in probably sort of a nerdy way) in the second quarter of the second decade of the twenty-first century.

Alex Younger gave this book to me years ago (like probably over a decade ago) and I always meant to go through it page by page. Now I have. Thanks, Alex.

[Elisha Condie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ah, I just found this book on a shelf and have been re-reading it...and I LOVE it. It's a dictionary of hipster slang. There are some of you out there (Mom?) who are reading this, shaking your head sadly for me that I own a dictionary of hipster slang. But it was the best $11 I've spent! This book is so funny- it really is just a list of hipster expressions or words and what they mean. Me and my husband used to look at it all the time when we first got it (a few years ago) and laugh and laugh. The best part is, the author gives you the context of the slang - if it's a Cab Calloway lyric, or something Dean Martin said to a heckler one night at the Sands.
One of my favorites: "I tried to carry a stuffed moose head through a revolving door" - meaning that you got beat up. It's so poetic. Brian and I actually decided we were going to try to get some of these expressions back into the lexicon.....that project is still ongoing.

[Thomas · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had very high hopes for this book of hipster slang... at the time I read it (some years ago) I hoped it would be helpful in lending verisimilitude to some counterculture characters in some midcentury noir crap I was writing. It didn't turn out to be that helpful... it felt kind of cutesy and self-indulgent. As far as slang goes, I got much more out of the more general The Slang of Sin.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my all-time favorite reference books. When I was a kid, I got made fun of for "reading the dictionary"- yes, it's true, nerdtron then and now- but I never had a resource like this. All those encoded hepcat sayings work like a mini-time machines, each one set for a moment of specific cool that gives the reader a glimpse into the middle of the 20th Century, helpfully translates all those hard-boiled detective novels, and makes you feel you'd fit right in at the most affected beatnik shindig this side of paradise.

[Des · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is aces! It breaks down slang from film noir, mobsters, jazzmen, beats, blues singers, and anyone else from about 1920-early 1960s. Some of the words / phrases are still in use! Plus it gives a source and often context for many things.

[Clay · Rating 3 out of 5]

This could've been a much shorter book. Rather than incorporating everything that supposed hipsters ever said/wrote, including numerous terms that have become mainstream, a more selective approach might've made for a more interesting read.

[Chris Albanese]

vintage slang.... fun to have around

[Robyn Sayles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great resource for writers!

[Brian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth every dime.

[Kate]

Mentioned in ‘So many books so little time’