Ran across some old clippings, including some College Girls Slanguage circa 1939-40.
Apple-polisher - One who toadies to professors.
Abstiuqate - Get out.
Beegeeossee - Big girl on the campus, student teacher.
Bull session - Get-together.
Bag - A girl.
Ding - To blackball.
etc. etc.
Hardware - Jewelry.
Handcuff - Engagement ring.
etc. etc.
Skylooking - Unromantic term for the biological urge.
Tabe party - Informals.
Wheel a sled - Drive a car.
Wolfing - Snaking or tealing another girl’s date.
Yumph - Sex appeal, it, personality.
I can confirm from wide reading that “apple polisher” and “bull session” were also in use by male collegiates at the time, as was “BMOC” (substituting for BGOC, which they wouldn’t have given a damn about).
Can you doublecheck the spelling of “abstiuqate”? Seems like it would be unpronounceable as it is. It’s reminiscent of absquatulate, but that dates to the 1830s, not 1930s.
I agree, lots of those terms just sound like general college-age slang of the time, based on movies and so forth.
About two years ago I saw a movie from that time, and there was this female character, about that age, who seemed to be there mainly to spout language of that kind. All I can remember off the top of my head is “dig the downy” for “going to bed (sleep)”.
I’d also heard the term “bag” in old movies; it seems originally to have been an insult, as in “old bag” or “ugly bag”, that later became neutral in spin. Anyone who ever saw Young Frankenstein will never forget the scene where Gene Wilder asks Marty Feldman to help with the bags, and the latter says in his best Groucho Marx voice, “Soitenly, you take the blonde and I’ll get the one in the toiban”.
