It turns out that the man whose very choice of words directly influences the fate of our economy long ago had a different sort of way with words. At his South Carolina high school Ben Bernanke authored a hippie dictionary; Bloomberg lists some of its content:

Bird - a lady as in "cute chick" or "henpecked"

Dig - to like, to enjoy, as "The hippie undertaker digs his work.''

Down trip - a drag

Drag - a down trip

Hang-up - a neurosis or fetish

In gear - the cat's pajamas

Lie-In - a form of peaceful protest that often fails when demonstrators go to sleep

Square - someone who stays home New Year's Eve to hear Guy Lombardo play "Auld Lang Syne''

Straight - as in "stiff'' (see "dig'')

Swing - what someone does who thinks Guy Lombardo is a football coach (see square)

Trip - a rocket flight without the rocket

You dig?

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Elizabeth Gettelman

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Elizabeth Gettelman is a former managing editor at Mother Jones. To follow her on Twitter, click here.