The Rat Pack Lexicon or Frankenspeak
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In the 1960's the Rat Pack created their own language. It was a mixture of slang and cool terms that helped make them undisputably the 'kings of cool' in their heyday in Las Vegas.

18 Karat
All the way, full-out: "An 18 karat idiot."

Baby
Used as an exclamation as well as a term of endearment.

Bag
A person's particular interest; as in "singing's my bag"

Barn Burner
A very stylish, classy woman

Beard
A male friend who acts as a "cover"; usually for extramarital affairs

Beetle
A girl who dresses in flashy clothes

Big-Leaguer
A resourceful man who can handle any situation

Big Casino
Death

Bird
The male or female genitalia; standard greeting: "How's your bird"?

Bombsville
Any kind of failure in life; see ville

Broad
Affectionate term for a girl or woman with sex appeal

Bum
A person who is despised, most frequently linked to people in the media

Bunter
A man who fails in almost everything he does; the opposite of gasser

Cash Out
Leave, as in "Cash me out of this party" = "I'm leaving."

Charley
What the rat-packers called one another

Charlies
Admiring word for a woman's breasts

Chick
A young and invariably pretty girl

Clam-Bake
A party or get-together.

Clyde
A word used to cover a multitude of personal observations; e.g., "I don't like her clyde" means "I don't like her voice", etc.

Coo-Coo!
See crazy

Cool
A term of admiration for a person or place. An alternative word meaning the same thing is crazy.

Crazy
A term of admiration for a personal, place, or thing; similar to cool.

Creep
A man who is disliked for any reason

Croaker
A derogatory term for a doctor.

Crumb
A person it is impossible to respect

Dame
A generally derogatory term for a probably unattractive woman

Dig
A term of appreciation; e.g., "I dig that broad."

Dimmer
Eyes (as in "I gotta see the croaker about my bad dimmers.")

"Drop it, charley"
Change the conversation; see "good night, all”

Duke
Tip

Dying
An exaggerated term to mean slightly upset; e.g. "I'm dying"

End
A word to signify that someone or something is the very best; "the living end"

Endsville
Total failure; similar to bombsville; see ville

Fink
A person who cannot be relied upon or trusted, especially someone in the media; a crumb

First Base
The start of something, usually applied in terms of failure when someone has failed to reach it.

Fracture
To make laugh; as in "that fractures me"

Gas
A great situation; as in "that set was a gas"

Gasoline
Alcohol

Gasser
A highly admired person; the end!

Gofer
Someone who performs menial jobs and tasks; "go for drinks"

Good Night All
A term of invective used to change the subject of conversation

Groove
A term of admiration or approval; as in "in the groove"

Harvey
A person who acts in a stupid or naive fashion; sometimes shortened to "Harv"

Hacked
Angry; as in "he's hacked off"

Hello!
A cry of surprise to no one in particular when a beautiful woman is seen

Hey-Hey
Indulging in anything of a sexual nature with a woman.

Hunker
A jack-of-all-trades; see gopher

Jokes
An actor's lines in a screenplay

Let's Lose Charley
A term used among intimates who want to get rid of a bore in their company

Little Hey-Hey
Romance; a little action with a broad

Locked-up
As in "all locked-up," a term for a forthcoming date or engagement, private or public

Loser
Anyone who has made a mess of their life, drinks too much, makes the wrong enemies, etc.

Mish-Mash
Similar to loser, but refers specifically to a woman who is messed up

Mothery
Terrific; wild and wicked

Mouse
Usually a small, very feminine girl who invites being cuddled

Nowhere
A term of failure as in "he's nowhere."

Odds
Used in connection with important decisions, as in "the odds aren't right," meaning it's a no go

Original Loser
A person without talent; sometimes more fully expressed as "He is the original Major Bowes Amateur Hour loser

Pallie
Dean's nickname for everyone, whether a lifelong friend or a bellhop

Platinum
Having a big heart, generous. "You're platinum, pussycat!"

Player
A man who is a gambler by nature, makes friends easily, and never gives up trying

Punks
Any undesirables, in particular criminals, gangsters, or mobsters

Quin
Derisive term for a woman who is an easy pick-up

Rain
As in "I think it's going to rain" indicating that it is time to leave a dull gathering or party

Ring-a-Ding
A term of approval, as in "What a ring-a-ding broad!"

Sam
Used in the same way as Charley for a person whose name has been forgotten, most often applied to females

Scam
To cheat at gambling, as in "Hey, what's the scam?"

Scramsville
To run off

Sharp
A person who dresses well and with style

Smashed
A word used to describe someone who is drunk. On occasions it has been replaced with "pissed."

Solid
Definite, reliable. (Note: this was also used by Linc in "The Mod Squad.")

Square
A person of limited character, not unlike a harvey.

Swing
v. To hang out and drink, smoke, sing, generally get real loose.

Ta-Ta
Goodbye

Tomato
As in "a ripe tomato" a woman ready for seduction or even marriage.

Twirl
A girl who loves dancing

Ville
A suffix used to indicate changes in any given situation; see endsville, splitsville, etc

Witchdoctor
Member of the clergy.

Wow-ee Wow Wow
Figured importantly in the Rat Pack lexicon for a while in the late 50s and early 60s. It was an expression of glee, joyful anticipation and a euphemism for lubricious fun.

Click here for an example of the lexicon in everyday conversation.