1920s Slang For Party (Helpful Content!)

Some of the most common slang terms for party in the 1920s included “wingding”, “bash”, and “blow”. Many other terms we still use today were either in use by the 1920s or arose during them, such as “beano” or “blowout”. Different parties used many different names but these would have been the most common.

In the 1920s, particularly in the U.S., parties became an even bigger part of culture than they had been in the past.

People have always loved to party, but with all kinds of new social freedoms that developed during this time, parties became an entirely different beast.

Let’s find out more.  

1920’s Slang For Party

What were parties called in the 1920s?

Wingdings

Parties went by a variety of different names in the 1920s, but perhaps most notably and most commonly were referred to as “wingdings”.

There is some debate about the precise age of this term, though most agree that it was in use by the 1920s in the context of a party.

It could be used to describe any party, though far more often than not it would be a term used to describe lively, energetic dancing parties.

This was primarily used in the U.S., although you would also have heard it in Canada and Britain to a lesser extent.

“There’s a big wingding at the town hall tonight, are you coming?” for example.

Bash

Another common term used in the 1920s for a party which you will still hear used today is “bash”.

This, again, could be used to describe virtually any kind of party, although the big, extravagant dancing parties were the most common kind of party in this period of time—they didn’t do things in half measures!

A bash, though, would most often be a party in celebration of something in particular, such as a birthday or anniversary.

“I’m having a huge bash for our tenth wedding anniversary!” for example.

Blow

One you won’t hear as much today which was very common in the 1920s was “blow”.

There are similar terms in modern English though it’s quite rare to hear a party simply referred to as “blow”.

Again, the sense was most commonly of the biggest kind of party you could have, cognate with the modern slang term “blowout”.

It would usually involve dancing and a lot of drink.

“We should arrange a blow for the end of summer!” for example.

Beano

Beano was another term used in the 1920’s for a party.

Blowout

Some people would call a party a blowout in the 1920’s.

Where do these terms come from, then?

Why were parties called “wingdings” in the 1920s?

There is, as mentioned, some debate about this.

Some claim that the term was not really in use until the end of the 1940s—however, this is only based on the attestations that come from 1949.

The term was definitely in use long before this, though precisely how long is not clear.

In any case, the most widely accepted theory is that it relates to an older, 19^th Century form of the term.

Earlier, the term referred to false spasms and seizures that the destitute would have in order to get sympathy and money from people.

So, the idea was that dancing at a big party would be like the spasms of a homeless person.

This is most likely how the term “wingdings” came to have this meaning; though as I say there is some debate about this.

Why were parties called a “bash” in the 1920s?

You may even use the term “bash” yourself today for parties without really knowing why we use the term in this way.

As best we can tell, the term did first come to mean a party or wild celebration around this time, and we can see this because it plainly arises out of an earlier sense of the word which was first recorded in 1901.

The term “on a bash” meant someone who was “on a drunken spree”, plainly a 19^th Century term but which as I say was first recorded in 1901.

Over the next couple of decades, then, it came to mean a wild, drunken party of dancing and recklessness.

The term has somewhat developed in the modern day, then, since it can be a term used for any kind of party—although most commonly it is used for bigger parties.

Why were parties called a “blow” in the 1920s?

The term “blow” again arose out of older slang terms used in the 19^th Century.

The original sense of the term, recorded as early as 1825, had the same sense as “outburst”.

Later on, it came to mean an abundant feast, which naturally implied a big party of some kind.

By later on in the century, it had come more generally to be applied to celebrations and gatherings.

By the 1920s, then, this term had developed to mean not a feast but any kind of big, “blowout” style party.

We don’t really use just the term “Blow” today, although “blowout” is very common in many areas of speech.

Many of these terms do still get some use today, and are not entirely alien to our modern ears.

At the same time, for a lot of us, it would probably sound a bit strange to refer to a party as a “wingding”.

Nonetheless, the influence that party culture of the 1920s has had on the modern day is still very plain to see, and it’s hard to deny the impact of this short space of time.

More in 1920s Slang

• 1920s Slang For Alcohol
• 1920s Slang For Cool
• 1920s Slang For Crazy
• 1920s Slang For Dancing
• 1920s Slang For Fun
• 1920s Slang For Man
• 1920s Slang For Money
• 1920s Slang For Nonsense
• 1920s Slang For Party
• 1920s Slang For Police
• 1920s Slang For Woman