What We Said:

Beatnik: A person who was very cool, especially one who rejected mainstream values and lived a spontaneous, free-wheeling life. Also called beat.

Cat: A cool guy, used for years among jazz musicians.

Cherry: Used by hot rodders to express approval for a beautifully restored car. Looking at a souped-up Model A Ford, one might say "That A-bomb is cherry!"

Chick: A cool girl, used for years among jazz musicians.

Cool: A multipurpose word to express approval of someone or something, cool has been used throughout American history but gained wide usage in the 1950s.

Cooties: An invisible curse carried by social outcasts. Preteen boys often worried that girls had cooties.

First base: Among teenagers, getting to first base meant kissing, with the terms "second base," "third base," and "going all the way" meaning ever greater sexual progress.

The fuzz...