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?
