1920s Slang For Dancing (Helpful Content!)

Common terms for dancing or dancers in the 1920s included “hoofer” and “heeler” for a good and a bad dancer respectively. A dance itself was often called a “hops”. If a dancer would not leave the dancefloor they were called a “floorflusher”. Other more specific terms included “putting on the Ritz,” meaning a very showy dance.

Dancing was enormously popular in the 1920s, as morals and social values shifted and young people became more interested in having wild and free fun than their parents had been.

The shackles of Victorian society were gradually broken in the early 20^th Century until we had the full on roaring dance parties of the 1920s.

Let’s find out more.

What was dancing called in the 1920s?

Dancing went by a number of different names in the 1920s depending on the context.

Firstly, for dancers themselves, there were a variety of slang terms you would hear use depending on what kind of dancer the person was.

“Hoofer” and “heeler” for example were both very common slang terms that you would use to describe someone who danced.

A “hoofer” was someone who was a very good dancer, someone who could find their feet and had the moves on the floor, whether alone or with a partner.

“Heelers”, on the other hand, were the bad dancers who couldn’t do so.

Often, the dance itself was called a “hop” or “hops”, and this could describe any kind of dance, whether something simple and low-key or something bigger and more elaborate.

For very expensive, elaborate, and “posh” dances, you would often say you were “putting on the Ritz”, in reference to the famous Ritz nightclub and theatre popular in the 1920s.

If you had a dancer who would not leave the dancefloor all night, that person would be called a “floorflusher”.

This was a commonly used term which mostly was an endearing term used to describe tireless dancers, rather than anyone that was annoying people by not leaving the dancefloor.

This was not much used before the 1920s, although it was not unheard of.

There were a variety of other terms in the orbit of dancing and dancers in the 1920s.

If a man showed up to a dance without a partner, he would be called a “stag”.

Just as today, someone who arrived at a dance without an invitation was a “gatecrasher”.

If you had a less than enjoyable time at a dance, you would say the dance was a “flat tire”.

A great dance could go by many names, such as “the cat’s pajamas”.

Where do all these terms come from, then?

Why were dancers called “hoofers” in the 1920s?

The term “hoofer” did and still does refer to a professional dancer, and this is where the slang term for just a good dancer came from in the 1920s.

Originally, a dance troupe of the 19^th Century had called themselves the hoofers, and so later on the term came to be more widely adopted as a general slang term for someone who was a good dancer.

It simply relates to the fact that dancing is done on your feet, and those with the surest feet when dancing seem to have “hooves”.

It’s also possibly related to the way professional dancers can stand up on their toes, making it seem as though they have hooves on the end of long legs.

Why were dancers called “heelers” in the 1920s?

It’s not entirely clear where the term “heelers” in this context comes from.

It is quite an old term, originating in the 1660s and referring to one who puts heels on shoes.

Later on, in the U.S., it came to mean a political lackey, and then later still of one who follows loyally everywhere their leader goes.

Some, then, think it refers to the fact that less confident dancers would simply follow others, like a heeler—though this is just a theory.

Why was a dance called a “hops” in the 1920s?

This term is derived from the practice of holding dances in school gymnasiums.

The dances were called “sock hops” because dancers would be required to take their shoes off during the dances so that they didn’t scratch the polished floor of the school gym.

As the school population who had called dances “hops” in their youth grew up, they continued using the term and it became one of the most common, general terms for a dance during this time.

In parts of America, this term is even still widely used.

What did “floorflusher” mean in the 1920s?

A floorflusher was someone who would not leave the dancefloor all night.

This could, as mentioned, simply be quite innocent—it was just someone who loved dancing so much that they would always be on the dancefloor and that is where everyone would expect to see them.

However, it did have other, less positive meanings.

It sometimes meant someone who would not leave the dancefloor and give others space to dance, thus “flushing” the floor of all the other dancers.

Sometimes, the term was used to describe men who misrepresented themselves in order to get attention from women—women, then, would leave the dancefloor when known “floorflushers” showed up.

So, given the prevalence of dancing and dance parties at this time, it is not surprising that there were so many different terms for describing dancers and dancing.

If you were a good dancer or a bad dancer people would let you know—although that didn’t matter, just that you were having fun!

More in 1920s Slang

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