# The '70s: Were they "groovy"? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 23, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783 "2005-04-23T18:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/61 "2005-05-01T17:48:21Z")
I was 10 - 20 in the '70s and _nobody_ used groovy seriously that I remember. Things were ‘cool’ instead. Or, if things were really cool, they were ‘bitchin’. “That 70’s Show” _looked_ pretty '70s, but it didn’t (doesn’t? Is it still on?) always _sound_ '70s. I heard one character refer to a pretty girl as ‘hot’ and I told my son that we didn’t use ‘hot’ that way – a pretty girl in the '70s was ‘foxy,’ not ‘hot.’ ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/62 "2005-05-01T18:01:51Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > Yes, but _Yellow Submarine_ was 1968. I know – was just adding to the collection of 60s examples of its use. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/63 "2005-05-01T18:06:42Z")
_Hot legs, wearing me out Hot legs, you can scream and shout Hot legs, are you still in school I love you honey_ — Rod Stewart, _Hot Legs_ _Hot child in the city Hot child in the city Runnin’ wild and lookin’ pretty Hot child in the city_ — Nick Gilder, _Hot Child in the City_ _Lookin’ for some hot stuff baby this evenin’ I need some hot stuff baby tonight I want some hot stuff baby this evenin’ gotta have some hot stuff gotta have some lovin’ tonight I need hot stuff I want some hot stuff I need hot stuff_ — Donna Summer, _Hot Stuff_ ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [May 1, 2005, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/64 "2005-05-01T19:05:27Z")
Hey, after you’ve strapped a chainsaw to the stump that was once your right hand, what better word _is_ there? ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2005, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/65 "2005-05-02T01:27:01Z")
I think things started to get _bomb_ in the late seventies. As in, “That’s the bomb, man!” (Always hated that one. Just sounded so contrived to my ears.) ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/66 "2005-05-03T22:13:26Z")
> [@Walloon](#): > > _Hot legs, wearing me out > Hot legs, you can scream and shout > Hot legs, are you still in school > I love you honey_ > — Rod Stewart, _Hot Legs_ > > _Hot child in the city > Hot child in the city > Runnin’ wild and lookin’ pretty > Hot child in the city_ > — Nick Gilder, _Hot Child in the City_ > > _Lookin’ for some hot stuff baby this evenin’ > I need some hot stuff baby tonight > I want some hot stuff baby this evenin’ > gotta have some hot stuff > gotta have some lovin’ tonight > I need hot stuff > I want some hot stuff > I need hot stuff_ > — Donna Summer, _Hot Stuff_ Sure – but none of these are the same as saying “Wow, she’s really hot.” meaning, “Wow, she’s really pretty.” You might call someone ‘hot stuff’ or a ‘hot child,’ but if you were saying someone was attractive, you wouldn’t have said, “She is hot.” At least not that I remember. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/67 "2005-05-04T06:29:11Z")
And near the end of the 70’s we had disco, “Shake Your Groove Thing”. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2005, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/68 "2005-05-04T18:44:47Z")
> [@Jess](#): > > Sure – but none of these are the same as saying “Wow, she’s really hot.” meaning, “Wow, she’s really pretty.” You might call someone ‘hot stuff’ or a ‘hot child,’ but if you were saying someone was attractive, you wouldn’t have said, “She is hot.” At least not that I remember. There’s lyrical evidence that describing a girl as “hot” goes back at least to the 50s: _My gal is red hot Your gal ain’t doodly squat_ –Billy Lee Riley (1955) (Later covered by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.) ---
**Author:** ![Cadabra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecd19e/32.png) [@Cadabra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cadabra)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/69 "2005-05-05T05:16:00Z")
I can’t speak for the “Groovy-ness” of the 70’s, and I know it’s a bit off topic, but there was a book called “How we got here. The 70’s. The decade that brought you modern life - for better or worse” by a Canadian author/columnest/dick head named David Frum. The basic plot of the book was that all of the societal changes that are attributed to the 60’s (music, civil rights, anti war, economics, gay rights etc.) are actually from the 70’s. To put it another way, according to this book the 60’s set up the ball and the 70’s hit it out of the ball park. Some of you Canadians might recall David Frum as son to the legendary Barbera Frum. He is a right wing columnest who at one time worked as a speachwriter for the Bush Jr. administration. (He apparently coined the term “Axis of evil”) I’ve read some of Mr. Frum’s stuff before and found him irritatingly arrogant, sometimes profoundly wrong and terribly annoying to boot. (And this from a guy who is on the same side of the political spectrum as Mr. Frum.) but this book I foound a jolly good read with thought provoking idea’s. In the end I wasn’t sure if I agreed with his conclusions but it was still a hell of an argument. He’s still a dick head though. ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/70 "2005-05-05T09:40:20Z")
> [@Cadabra](#): > > The basic plot of the book was that all of the societal changes that are attributed to the 60’s (music, civil rights, anti war, economics, gay rights etc.) are actually from the 70’s. To put it another way, according to this book the 60’s set up the ball and the 70’s hit it out of the ball park. I think I agree with that evaluation, in general. The late 60s was just kind of Helter-Skelter, then in the early 70s we stopped to picked up the pieces, and that’s when most of the changes were “formally” accepted. ---
**Author:** ![SkeptiJess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@SkeptiJess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SkeptiJess)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2005, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783/71 "2005-05-05T13:31:20Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > There’s lyrical evidence that describing a girl as “hot” goes back at least to the 50s: > > _My gal is red hot > Your gal ain’t doodly squat_ > > –Billy Lee Riley (1955) > > (Later covered by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs.) Maybe I’m splitting hairs a bit, but I don’t see that as calling someone “hot” as a synonym for “sexually attractive” in the way it’s meant today. “Hot” today means “pretty & sexy” and I truly don’t remember it being used that way back in the '70s. You might call someone “red hot” or “hot stuff,” but if you wanted to say “She is pretty & sexy” you wouldn’t have said “She is hot.” The synonym for “pretty & sexy” that I remember was “foxy.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-70s-were-they-groovy/300783.md?page=3)