Jive turkey

Jive turkey

Jive turkey was a derogatory slang word in African American Vernacular English, used to refer to someone who was unreliable, made empty promises, or who was full of bluster.

The insult became widely known among white Americans in the 1980s, particularly via television comedies (e.g., The Jeffersons). The term has been used by later television characters (e.g., Homer Simpson) in order to demonstrate that they are out of touch with modern youth trends, culture, and language. "Jive turkey", however, was already falling into disuse when it was spoken by supposedly "hip" characters in the 1960s, such as George Jefferson, and later in 2008 by Cornelius Banks (Tim Meadows) in the movie "Semi-Pro".


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