Like, stick with me here cats -- I'm going to lay it out for you, dig?
There's a special place in my heart for beatniks. Whether its Maynard G Krebbs or teen sexploitation films like Beat Girl to B horror flicks like Bucket of Blood, I find the beatnik fascinating.
For those of us not old enough to have lived through the late 50s and 60s, I am certain that the stereotypical beatnik in media is not exactly reality. But that doesn't mean I enjoy it any less, and the slang of the 50s and 60s beatnik is fun to work into everyday language.
So if you want to follow along, check out the cliffnotes here, put on a side of Brubeck and check this out:
How to Speak Hip is a comedy album by Del Close and John Brent, released in 1959. The album is a satire of language-learning records, where the language of the hipster is treated as a foreign language. The record does a good job of describing the Beatnik sub-culture. You can hear the album in its entirety here
http://www.howtospeakhip.com/non_flash_index.htm
And don't forget, you can get your berets and other hip "things" at Cats Like Us. So get hung up cats, I'm gonna get in the wind.
~Andrew
UPDATE: Slightly related is our article about 1950's slang and rockabilly quotes!