# Strange slang terms in songs **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 16, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971 "2021-03-16T00:20:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/1 "2021-03-16T00:20:48Z")
Wondering about a couple of slang terms in songs once popular, unresponsive to a quick Google. The term “dry roasters” in a Jay-Z song (Renegade), and the term “lightly leads” in a Squeeze song (Cool For Cats). Any ideas? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/2 "2021-03-16T00:27:15Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Squeeze song (Cool For Cats). This? _And meanwhile at the station there’s a couple of likely lads_ _Who swear like, “How’s your father?” and they’re very cool for cats_ ---
**Author:** ![gdave](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gdave/32/3683_2.png) [@gdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gdave)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/3 "2021-03-16T01:19:27Z")
I suspect both of your strange slang terms are mondegreens. For Jay-Z’s “Renegade”, [genius.com](http://genius.com) renders the lyric as: [And they live with they moms, got dropped roadsters](https://genius.com/Jay-z-renegade-lyrics#note-874005) Which I would hazard a guess to be a reference to wannabes who have a fancy low-rider car (“dropped roadster”), but who still live at home. But that might be way off. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/4 "2021-03-16T02:16:41Z")
Guess they both are. No wonder I couldn’t google ‘em. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/5 "2021-03-16T02:36:56Z")
And before you google “Then I saw her face, now I’m goin’ to Cleveland”, that’s the Monkees song _I’m A Believer_… :~} ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/6 "2021-03-16T03:25:10Z")
Not to let a thread go to waste, does anybody know what, “she’s about a mover” means? ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/7 "2021-03-16T04:12:21Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > likely lads Also referenced in the excellent Libertines song: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/QGBlEo2NlsY/maxresdefault.jpg "The Libertines - What Became Of The Likely Lads") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGBlEo2NlsY) Though a reference to the 1970s british sitcom (which I still use to mean trying to avoid seeing the score of a british sporting event until it’s shown at a more reasonable time in US TV). The term had meaning before that I assume. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/8 "2021-03-16T06:51:08Z")
For years I heard the Proud Mary line “pumped a lot of 'tane down in New Orleans” as “pumped a lot of pain…” because I’d never heard gasoline called “tane.” Does anybody call gas that, aside from CCR and Tina Turner? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 8:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/9 "2021-03-16T08:13:42Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > Though a reference to the 1970s british sitcom […]The term had meaning before that I assume. '60s comedy. There’s a bit [about the etymology](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Likely_Lads#Etymology) on the Wiki. I’m surprised the OP was stumped by that as slang, but was cool with _the Sweeney_. Or the actual [song title](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cool_for_Cats_(TV_series)). ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/10 "2021-03-16T12:10:08Z")
Its pumped a lot tang as in Poontang. She had a lot of sex. And what is Elton John saying in Someone Save My Life Tonight when he sings “I would have walked head on into the deep end of a river, clinging to your stocks and bonds, paying your HP demands forever”? ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/11 "2021-03-16T14:07:34Z")
HP is British and means Hire Purchase. In the US we call that “layaway.” ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/12 "2021-03-16T14:21:19Z")
You _heard_ right, from what I’ve read. But it’s _spelled_ 'pane. For propane. Apparently. But Ike changed it to 'tane, I guess for octane. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/13 "2021-03-16T14:42:15Z")
I can guess the meaning of _likely lads_ but am unfamiliar with the term. I could probably also figure out _dropped roadsters_ but heard it as dry roasters through I careful listening, which I thought somehow related to ghetto violence. However, I misheard both these phrases and did not Google the lyrics. Pumping tane or tang are sort of different. Although the Madness song _One Step Beyond_ is the “nuttiest” sound around, I hear something different there sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/14 "2021-03-16T17:41:13Z")
When you’re not sure…it’s always about sex (or drugs). Reminds me of the video. Watch her move! [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/XboE3_7KZ3Y/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AG6AoAC8AGKAgwIABABGGUgZShlMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCkSDp-n0Vf4zb3w0iDvAUYwUKcsg "Sir Douglas Quintet - She's About A Mover") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XboE3_7KZ3Y) ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2021, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/strange-slang-terms-in-songs/937971/15 "2021-03-16T17:56:33Z")
I’m still waiting for an opportunity to use the word “pompatus” in conversation, which is difficult since I don’t know what it means.