Entry · catalog no. 0702
jive turkey
/ /dʒaɪv ˈtɜrki/ /JYV TUR-kee
noun · Urban North · 1970s
✓ Verified
1.
A person full of empty talk — a bluffer, a phony, somebody making promises they will not keep.
“Don't listen to that jive turkey, he ain't never had no tickets.”
Origin & Attribution
Built from 'jive,' the Harlem word for slick or deceptive talk current since the late 1920s, joined to 'turkey' for a foolish man. The pairing was working in Black comedy and street speech by the early 1970s — Redd Foxx used it on stage — and the Ohio Players put it on wax in 1974, after which television's 'hip' characters ran it into the ground.
early 1970s
Current in Black comedy and street speech
1974
Ohio Players release 'Jive Turkey' on Skin Tight
late 1970s
Sitcom writers adopt it as stock street talk
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
Urban North · 1970s
Spoken by
Black comics, funk musicians, street speech of the early 1970s
$JIVETUThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Faded55 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
68/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1971
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
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
Citations & Sources
■
Ohio Players, 'Jive Turkey,' Skin Tight — 1974
song · verified
■
+ Cite a sourceRedd Foxx stage repertoire, documented — 1970s
comedy · documented
See also