# Origins of groovy **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 26, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643 "2014-11-26T02:22:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![callander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@callander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/callander)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/1 "2014-11-26T02:22:51Z")
I dig the word groovy just something about it, something like an elevator going up. I associate it with smoothness and being smooth. Something that has all it’s working parts in harmony. Simply, I find it a hip word. How did it start, what is its appeal to me, am I just nostalgic for times past? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/2 "2014-11-26T05:38:43Z")
It originated in the 1920’s but didn’t become popular until the 1960’s: > **[Groovy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groovy)** > > Groovy (or, less commonly, groovie or groovey) is a slang colloquialism popular during the 1950s, '60s and '70s. It is roughly synonymous with words such as "excellent", "fashionable", or "amazing", depending on context. > The word originated in the jazz culture of the 1920s, in which it referred to the “groove” of a piece of music (its rhythm and “feel”), plus the response felt by its listeners. It can also reference the physical groove of a record in which the pick-up needle runs. Radio disc joc... > **[groovy | Search Online Etymology Dictionary](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=groovy)** > > The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms. It is professional enough to satisfy academic standards, but accessible... > **[Google Books Ngram Viewer](https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=groovy&year_start=1800&year_end=2014&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cgroovy%3B%2Cc0)** > > Google Books Ngram Viewer It probably comes from the phrase “in the groove” which apparently means both being able to pick up the feel of a song and the groove in a record. ---
**Author:** ![callander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@callander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/callander)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/3 "2014-11-26T17:52:46Z")
Hi Wendell Pleasure to meet you here in the halls, thanks I’ll look at into the groove as well. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/4 "2014-11-26T19:00:39Z")
> [@callander](#): > > Hi Wendell > > Pleasure to meet you here in the halls, thanks I’ll look at into the groove as well. [nitpick] Not into the groove, in the groove. [/nitpick] ---
**Author:** ![callander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ed655f/32.png) [@callander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/callander)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/5 "2014-11-26T19:09:28Z")
Nitpicking is good. How unhip of me. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/6 "2014-11-26T21:37:20Z")
Nothing wrong with “into the groove”. You can’t be _in the groove_ until you _get into the groove_, and if a band has a groove going, the audience may really get into it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [November 26, 2014, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/7 "2014-11-26T22:36:37Z")
The 60s reincarnation was already way past it’s sell-by date when Marcia Brady exhumed it. This comment was brought to you by the kind people at Cliches by DeCarload and Metaphors by Mixmaster. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/8 "2014-11-27T00:58:47Z")
Jokes aside, I always imagined it had something to do with record grooves. Remember vinyl records? ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2014, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origins-of-groovy/705643/9 "2014-11-27T01:02:15Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > Remember vinyl records? Get off my lawn!