Meaning
What does Jive Turkey mean?
A Jive Turkey is a person who exaggerates everything, who lies, makes empty promises and pretends to be something they are not.
They will claim they have a ridiculous amount of money, that they scored 100% on all their tests, that they own 8 businesses and that they are the coolest person in the world.
However, if a Jive Turkey says this, it is not true.
They will also speak with the confidence of someone who really knows what they are talking about, while actually, they have no idea.
Origin
What's the origin of Jive Turkey?
The term was first used as a derogatory insult among African Americans in the 70’s, and was then adopted by funk groups in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
1980’s comedy TV shows made the slang famous, such as “The Jeffersons”.
Spread & Usage
How did Jive Turkey spread?
In late 80’s, the term was used by character Homer Simpson in “The Simpsons”, to show he was cool and youthful.
In addition to this, numerous other movies and TV-shows used the term during the 80’s and 90’s, before the term slowly died out.
It is not frequently used today.
External resources
- Dictionary.com – Jive Turkey