Entry · catalog no. 1030

jitterbug

/ /ˈdʒɪtərˌbʌɡ/ /JIT-er-bug

noun · Harlem · 1930s

✓ Verified

A swing dancer; a devoted fan of hot jazz who cannot sit still once the band gets going. Later the name of the dance itself.

“The jitterbugs took the floor the second the horns came in.”

Origin & Attribution

From the Harlem swing world of the 1930s. Cab Calloway recorded "Jitter Bug" in 1934 and defined the word in his 1938 Hepster's Dictionary before it ever named a style of dancing.

1934

Calloway records 'Jitter Bug'

1938

Defined in the Hepster's Dictionary

1940s

Names the dance itself

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

The Northeast

Harlem · 1930s

Spoken by

Harlem swing dancers

$JITTERThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Faded

92 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

52/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

1934

in the culture

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

@bxgriot

The Bronx, NY

@phillyanne

Philadelphia, PA

Contribute your pronunciation

Citations & Sources

■

Cab Calloway, "Jitter Bug" — song · 1934

submitted

■

Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary — glossary · 1938

submitted

+ Cite a source