Being Human - Rockhurst University

It’saCommunicationMinefieldR ockTalkIf you think college students speak a different language than those in the workingworld, you’re partially right. They always have. Remember when you were a student?To help bring it all back, we asked Dick Shaw, ’60, professor of marketing, to take uson a linguistic foray into the Rockhurst of the late ’50s.Just for comparison’s sake, we gathered a group of current Rockhurst Universitystudents to share their “scandalous” vocabulary.1950sFink — a terrible personSquare — someone who is behind the timesHep — up with the timeSwinger — someone who is hepChurch-key— beer opener(From left) Bob “Joe” Ingram, ’60; Howard Hansen, ’58;Pad — your roomDick Shaw, ’60; Mike Stewart, ’61; and Pete Long, ’60 (standing)Jebbie — JesuitCool + someone’s last name — e.g., Cool ShawSomeone’s first name, usually ending it with ieor y+ Baby — e.g., Dickie BabyHang-out — (n) place, (v) loafGroovin’ — having funFags — cigarettesNowFine — great looking person of either sexRandom — a non sequitur, an occurrence or comment that defieslogic — e.g., When the students saw a mattress sittingin the dorm hallway for the seventh day in a row, theysaid, “That’s random.”Illmatic — superior — e.g., “His album was totally illmatic.”Shacker — someone who just violated the dorm’s visitingprivileges for opposite-sex guestsTrippin’ — you’re mistaken — e.g., “I haven’t been out all night,you’re trippin.’”Like — meaningless interjection between wordsDork — still means the same thingShady — not on the up-and-up, used because of its quaint,antiquated feelHottie — sexy man or womanIt’s all good — everything’s greatMy bad — my mistake, it’s my faultChillin’/kickin’ it — relaxing, hanging outCream — money, as in “Cash Rules Everything Around Me”Rockhurst students (from left) MeghanMoran, ’02, Trisha Howell, ’01, Luke Norris,’01 and Ryan King, ’02, helped contributeto the contemporary word list.ROCKHURST12