What words meant "totally cool!" when you were a kid?
By The Horse
@TheHorse (228975)
Walnut Creek, California
June 5, 2025 11:47am CST
I was a child in the 1960s and 1970s. We (especially the boys) had words for something that was "totally cool." If a particularly good episode of "Lost in Space" had occurred the night before, we might say, " That was cool!" But we might also say, "No, that was better than cool. It was boss!" "No, it was doom!" So I guess "doom" was about as good as it got in the days of black and white TV.
Now, I work with kids. Each generation of kids seems to come up with a new set of expressions for "cool." Cool remains, though. Over the years, since I became an adult, I have heard "fresh," "tight," "dope," and several other terms for "cool." One kid client of mine was lectured to by his (fifth grade) teacher about using the term "dope" because it can mean drugs. I just shook my head and laughed with the kid.
Can you "do me a solid" (I learned that one from my 20-something colleagues at Guitar Center) and reminisce about what words meant "cool" when you were young? "Groovy" predated me, by the way. I am old. But not THAT old. 

13 people like this
12 responses
@Tampa_girl7 (52973)
• United States
5 Jun
@TheHorse I can’t believe how many decades have come and gone, but it is a blessing.
@TheHorse (228975)
• Walnut Creek, California
5 Jun
@Tampa_girl7 Yeah. I used to say, "Do you remember the other day when..." Now, it's "Do you remember the other year..."
1 person likes this

@celticeagle (177434)
• Boise, Idaho
6 Jun
Groovy. That's a word from my generation. I was a teen in the mid 60s.
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@TheHorse (228975)
• Walnut Creek, California
6 Jun
@celticeagle Heh. It was an interesting time.
1 person likes this

@DaddyEvil (154630)
• United States
5 Jun
I grew up in roughly the same time you did... But in small town America. Groovy was still a word used in my part of America back then. (But I also had 13 older brothers and sisters so used the same words they did around me.)
One of my step-daughters always said things "kicked" when she was a teenager or things could also be "rad" around her, too.
As far as I can remember, my friends and I said things were "cool" back then. I still say that once in a while.
Most of the time now, I say things are "nice". 


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@LindaOHio (195674)
• United States
6 Jun
I still use cool. Groovy comes from my generation but I don't think I ever used it.
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@TheHorse (228975)
• Walnut Creek, California
7 Jun
@LindaOHio Never heard of this!
"Carnaby Street fashions"
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@LindaOHio (195674)
• United States
7 Jun
@TheHorse It was the fashion trend street in England. Very hot in the US. Mary Quant was one of the designers. It's still a fashion hub today.
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@BarBaraPrz (50075)
• St. Catharines, Ontario
5 Jun
I am that old but didn't really use 'groovy' much. It and 'fab' just didn't really fit in, in the rural small town I lived in back then.
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@RasmaSandra (87298)
• Daytona Beach, Florida
5 Jun
Two words I was used to most were groovy and cool,
1 person likes this
@Traceyjayne (3520)
• United Kingdom
6 Jun
I think cool seems to have been around forever ....I remember people older than me ....yes, there are a few , ....saying it. It was said when I was younger and my 13 year old Grandson says it now.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (112297)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
6 Jun
I remember the tern groovy when I was in my teen years.
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@TheHorse (228975)
• Walnut Creek, California
6 Jun
@Deepizzaguy I don't remember that one. Gulfstream was my favorite back in the day. Lots of orange, as I recall.
1 person likes this
@Deepizzaguy (112297)
• Lake Charles, Louisiana
6 Jun
@TheHorse I remember a pinball machine that was called "Groovy" at the fun arcades.
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