Square (slang) - Citizendia

For other uses, see square (disambiguation).

Square used as slang may mean many things when referring to a person, or it may refer to a cigarette. A cigarette ( French "small Cigar " from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through Smoking and manufactured

The term "square", in referring to a person, originally meant someone who was honest, traditional, and loyal. An agreement that is equitable on all sides is a "square deal". The evolution of American culture transformed the term from a compliment to an insult to an obsolete term.

In the parlance of jazz, a square was a person who failed to appreciate the medium, hence (more broadly) someone who was out of date or out of touch. Jazz is an American Musical art form which originated in the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States Such was the opprobrium attached to "squareness" among jazz lovers that musician Thelonious Monk adopted the middle name "Sphere". Thelonious Sphere Monk ( October 10, 1917 - February 17, 1982) was an American Jazz Pianist and Composer. The term, with its broader meaning, has persisted and has permeated mainstream culture, as exemplified in Huey Lewis's 1986 hit Hip to be square. Huey Lewis (born Hugh Anthony Cregg III; July 5 1950 is an American Musician, Songwriter and occasional Actor. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) In ultimate self-reference, this song was later used by Sesame Street to illustrate the geometrical meaning of "square". Self-reference is a phenomenon in natural or Formal languages consisting of a sentence or Formula referring to itself directly or Sesame Street is an American educational Children's television series and a pioneer of the contemporary educational television standard combining

In the counterculture movements that started in the 1940s and took momentum in the 1960s a "square" referred to someone who clung to repressive, traditional, stereotypical, one-sided, or "in the box" ways of thinking. Counterculture (also " counter-culture " is a sociological term used to describe the values and norms of behavior of a Cultural group, or The term was used by hipsters in the 40s, beatniks in the 50s, hippies in the 60s, yippies in the 70s, and other individuals who took part in the movements which emerged to contest the more conservative national, political, religious, philosophical, musical and social trends. Hipster, as used in the 1940s referred to Aficionados of jazz in particular Modern jazz, which became popular in the early '40s The Hippie Subculture was originally a Youth movement that began in the United States during the early 1960s and spread around the world The Youth International Party, whose members were commonly called Yippies, was a highly theatrical and Anti-authoritarian Political party established in Conservatism is a term used to describe political philosophies that favour Tradition, where tradition refers to various religious cultural or nationally defined It was in this context that Sly and the Family Stone's trumpet player Cynthia Robinson yelled out in the hit Dance to the Music (song): "All the squares go home!"

In modern usage it can be used to describe a person who leads a lawful existence, particularly in regard to employment. Sly & the Family Stone is an American funk, soul and rock band from San Francisco California. Cynthia Robinson (born January 12, 1946 in Sacramento California) is an African-American Musician, best known for being the " Dance to the Music " is a 1968 hit single by the influential soul / rock / funk band Sly & the Family Stone for the Epic /

The term found its way into various parts of popular culture. Perhaps the most obvious recurring reference today would be this line from "Jailhouse Rock", a song most famously sung by Elvis Presley:

The warden said hey buddy don't you be no square

If you can't find a partner use a wooden chair

One of the earliest records with the usage of the term can be found in the 1946 recording by Harry Gibson "What's his Story?," which includes the stanza:

At the gate stands a sinning fool

Shouting "Lordy Lordy"

Saint Peter said "You square,

Your place is way down there"

And the square said, "What's his story?"

Or an earlier song by the same artist, from 1944, called "Stop That Dancing Up There," which includes:

The people downstairs

Say I'm an aweful square

When I shout, "Stop that dancing up there. " Jailhouse Rock " is a song written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller that first became a hit for Elvis Presley. Harry "The Hipster" Gibson ( June 27, 1915 - May 3, 1991) was a Jazz Pianist, Singer, and Songwriter "

Positive connotations

Square can also mean honest and upstanding.

The term was used in the American Cub Scout Promise until 1971. Cub Scouting is part of the Scouting program of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA available to some boys from first through fifth-grade or 7–10 years of age and their families

The chorus of the George M. Cohan song "Mary's a Grand Old Name" concludes with this line:

And there is something there / That sounds so square / It's a grand old name. George Michael Cohan ( July 3, 1878 &ndash November 5, 1942) was a United States Entertainer, Playwright,

L7

L7 is also a derivative term for square. The square shape is made by putting together an "L" made with the left thumb and index finger and a "7" made with the right thumb and index finger.

Sam the Sham & the Pharaohs included this line in their biggest hit "Wooly Bully":

Let’s not be L7, come and learn to dance. Sam the Sham is the stage name of rock 'n' roll singer Domingo “Sam” Samudio from Dallas Texas. " Wooly Bully " is a song based on the 12 bar blues progression made famous by Sam the Sham and the Pharaohs first recorded as " Hully Gully

Positive connotations

L7

See also