A New York City listener wonders about the origin and literal meaning of the phrase catch you on the flip side. It’s a reference to the B side of vinyl records. It was popularized as part of truckers’ CB lingo in the 1970s. This is part of a complete episode.
After an international team of scientists and staffers spent six months at a research station in Antarctica, their accents changed ever so slightly, according to an acoustic analysis by German researchers. The slang terms they shared include dingle...
Is the booty as in shake your booty related to a pirate’s booty? The booty that means “derriere” is an alteration of botty, which is itself an alteration of bottom. The booty that means “loot” or “plunder”...
As Snagglepuss once said, ca. 1959: “That turns my record over! Like, on the _flip_ side!” It’s a reference to the B side of _any_ record and especially the B side of 78-rpm records. These records were rarely over three minutes long on a side and flipping the record over to its B side in order to hear the rest of the story and/or music was often necessary, as in the case of the multi-record albums, _A Christmas Carol_ and _Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs_, e.g. in the case of the latter, “I’m Wishing” and “One Song” on one side, “Dwarfs’ Yodel Song” on the flip side. The use of “flip side” was popularized by the disk-jockeys, such as DDT (Darrell “Downbeat” Turner), of the Post-War – i.e. WWII – era.
Just discovered “A Way with Words” after searching for a resource for my students (in Korea) about “on the flip side.” I’m always looking for authentic materials to share with them. Your podcasts are a great find! Thanks for the work you do!