Entry · catalog no. 1023
gate
/ /
noun · Harlem, New York City ·
✓ Verified
1.
A man; used as a friendly term of address, roughly the way a later generation would say "man," "cat," or "homie." A greeting between hepsters and musicians.
“What's the word, gate?”
Origin & Attribution
Harlem jive of the swing era. Recorded in Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary in 1938 as any man, usually used in greeting. Trumpeter Louis Armstrong carried the nickname "Gate" for exactly this reason. It ran through the language of Black musicians decades before "cat" became the standard.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Harlem, New York City ·
Spoken by
$GATEThe Record · cultural traction
▲ 26 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
60/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary — glossary · 1938
submitted
■
+ Cite a sourceLouis Armstrong, "Gate" nickname — jazz biography · 1930s
submitted
See also