Uncommon
Jive talk
African-American Vernacular English slang or vocabulary that developed in Harlem
Jive talk
Jive talk, also known as Harlem jive or simply Jive, the 'argot of jazz', jazz jargon, 'vernacular of the jazz world', slang of jazz, and 'parlance of hip' is an African-American Vernacular English slang or vocabulary that developed in Harlem, where "jive" (jazz) was played and was adopted more widely in African-American society, peaking in the 1940s. In 1938, jazz bandleader and singer Cab Calloway published the first dictionary by an African-American, Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue: A "Hepster's" Dictionary, which became the official jive language reference book of the New York Public Library. In 1939, Calloway published an accompanying book titled Professor Cab Calloway’s Swingformation Bureau, which instructed readers how to apply the words and phrases from the dictionary. He released several editions until 1944, the last being The New Cab Calloway’s Hepsters Dictionary: Language of Jive. Poet Lemn Sissay observed that "Cab Calloway was taking ownership of language for a people who, just...
Open boosters, collect cards and trade them. Free to play.
Play for free