Betty Hutton , well know for her character as Annie Oakley in the 1950 film version ofAnnie Get your Gun , was one energetic singer . If you see this 1943 carrying out of " Murder , He articulate , " you will understand why Bob Hope calls her a " vitamin birth control pill with leg " ( it really gets going at 52 seconds ) .
The song apply a sea wolf - diller run - down of all the hep parole of the daylight , do up with some serious zest . The idea of the vocal is that her fellow employ so much of the latest slang term that she can scarce understand him . About one-half of these terms have fallen out of use , but a crew of them have hold out . Many of them got their start in the jazz world . Here you may see them when they were still new and exciting . And even if they were n’t so exciting at the time , Betty surely sold them like they were .
Some of the slang , in the order it appears in the song :
1 . Murder : Excellent ! In the words of H.L. Mencken , in " the lexicon of the malarky nut … anything excellent is killer - diller , execution or Dracula . "
2 . Solid : First rate , in this case , as she tell , " meanin ' all my charms . "
3 . Chick : A girl . This usage part around the 1930s and is still with us .
4 . Leaving him flat : The expression " to leave someone flavorless , " meaning drop them completely , had been around for a while , but got very democratic in the 20s and 30s .
5 . excavation : To look at , treasure . This one has also stuck around .
6 . The startle : Nervous judder , anxiety . in the first place referred to hysteria tremens .
7 . Ticker : Heart . This purpose was comparatively unexampled then too .
8 . Helen Hunt Jackson : A full term of destination . Usually for a guy , but also used in a general signified between friend , as in the room we use " hey , man . "
9 . Shoot the Snoot to Me : Move your snoot ( olfactory organ ) this way , so I can kiss ya .
10 . Cooking with Helium : On analogy with " cooking with gas . " Succeeding . Doing thing well . But even advantageously . ‘Cause it ’s helium .
11 . In the Groove : In the zone , humming along . This one has stuck around too .
