Why "Sick"?

So every generation has it’s slang.

The 60’s had ‘“Groovy” The 70’s had “Far out” The 80’s used “Awesome” The 90’s made use of “Sweet”

Now you can see how all these words coincide - you can tell they all mean something good.

The question I have is, when did the word “Sick” ever become a good thing???

I think all the past generations need to get together and help these young folks out by showing them how to create appropriate slang. :)

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Answer #1

Wasn’t “Jive Turkey” from the 50’s?

Answer #2

How old does she think I am? lol

Answer #3

What does ‘Jive Turkey’ have anything to do with using weird words as appose to “awesome” or “cool”? The statement ‘Jive Turkey’ was used as an insult.

edit According to wikipedia it was widely known in the 1980’s “particularly via television comedies”.

Answer #4

Good point. It seems like all the new slangs are opposite of what the word actually means.

Killin It - is actually a good thing Sick - means Awesome! Bad - means good

Answer #5

Those were obviously programs that I didn’t watch.

You couldn’t pay me to literally use the term ‘jive turkey’…it’s ridiculous! lol

Answer #6

When some people tell me something (for example, your drawing’s sick! or something else) I usually ask “Good sick or Bad sick?” lol x]

Answer #7

Jive turkey loool whats that ?? lol ichi, you made me smile on here :D

Answer #8

I never had jive turkey…what on earth was that? lol

Answer #9

Hah, you also had “jive turkey,” so maybe you shouldn’t throw stones.

Answer #10

Actually, rappers started using ‘bad’ for good in the 80s…that’s not the younger generation we have here on FA.

As for “sick”, the phrase “That’s sick” originated in the midwest in the 1970s to mean something was ‘intriguing.’ So that could be where it derived from.

Answer #11

this is funny because on of my friends commented a picture of mine on facbook saying my shirt was sick. excuse my stupidness, but I had NOOO clue what it meant!! lol.

I dont use sick..

I prefer to make up my own terms.!

Answer #12

It was just an example of slang, and while “jive turkey” may have been around in the 50s, in was in common use well into the 70s.

Answer #13

Ughhh it’s annoying when people say sick. Personally… I have never met anyone in real life who says it though =]

Answer #14

im 13 and I cannot at all stand that slang what does sick mean last time I checked sick was a bad thing

Answer #15

I have no idea, but I cant stand when people use the term that way. Everytime someone says something cool is “sick” I give them a weird look and say “How is that sick?”. I don’t get it, it sounds stupid to me. I’m a ‘young folk’ but I cant stand the slang people use, why not just use proper words?

Answer #16

Jive turkey:

Someone who lies all the time.
Someone who does unbelievable (usually bad) things.
An arrogant disrespectful punk who is full of crap.

-Urbandictionary