"Right On" Is Off And Other Hiplingua News

Even in this age of instant obsolescence, fashionable slang wears out faster than most commodities. What is very lively in Kansas City today may brand a user as quaint in Manhattan or the Bay Area. It thus becomes periodically necessary, as French Poet Stephane Mallarme once suggested, donner un sens plus pur aux mots de la tribu --to purify the dialect of the tribe.

Consider, for example, the phrases "doing your thing," "telling it like it is," or even "where it's at." Fresh not long ago, they are now unspeakable for those who would sound current. Things aren't "groovy" or "cool" any more --these two resurrected favorites of the '40s are dead again. The Women's Liberation Movement has consigned "chick" to outer darkness; say "sister" or holler uncle. Even "like"--as in "like you know how it is, man"--is on the blacklist. So is "man," for that matter. And the angry protester who still cries "Right on" risks being right off; the old Black Panther slogan has been co-opted by the straight Establishment. In May, New York's flossy Bergdorf Goodman used it in advertising copy. Some current hiplingua favorites:

Bummer: a bad drug reaction. Broadly, a negative experience, such as "Cambodia was really a bummer."

Dude: a male, almost always complimentary (replaces "cat" and "stud").

Flash: comprehending something suddenly ("I really flashed on that song").

Freak: a good person, the antithesis of square ("Those Berkeley freaks are outasite").

Funky: solid, warm ("That's a pretty funky jacket, Kit Carson").

Get it on: to pull yourself together ("Get it on, Max; the fuzz is outside").

Heavy: deep and serious ("Marcuse is heavy stuff").

Hype: to con ("Don't hype me, pig").

Into: to be deeply involved ("He's really into acid").

Off: to eliminate; sometimes, to kill ("Off the pigs, Sebastian").

Outasite: terrific. (In Paris, the phrase is loin de la vue.)

Righteous: genuine and right ("That's a righteous man, that Bill Kunstler").

Ripoff: exploitation ("That rock festival film is a real ripoff").

Spaced Out: usually meaning high on pot, LSD or catnip.

Spirit: full of life (replaces "soul").

Trash: to destroy, often in the name of revolution ("The kids really trashed those stores last night").

In London and on the Continent, the linguistic lag is sorely evident: phrases already discarded Stateside are just coming into common usage across the pond. Some Londoners estimate that it takes two years for a lively American coinage to make it as far as Chelsea. Esperantists, however, are making a valiant effort to cope more quickly. At their world convention in Vienna last week, some of the younger hotheads were talking about gruva young ladies with whom they hoped to scenumi (make the scene) in the evening.

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