Entry · catalog no. 4013
kick the gong around
/ /kɪk ðə ɡɔŋ əˈraʊnd/ /kik-thuh-GONG-uh-round
phrase · northeast · 1930s
✓ Verified
1.
To smoke opium — literally, to summon the pipe. Carried into broader jive as any kind of getting high.
“He spent the whole night kicking the gong around.”
Origin & Attribution
Harlem jive of the late 1920s and 1930s, printed in Cab Calloway's world. The gong was the opium pipe — a name borrowed from the gongs struck to call the attendant in Chinese opium houses — and kicking it around meant a night on the pipe. Calloway built a hit around the image; the term rode the jazz circuit as coded speech that sailed past white censors.
1931
Cab Calloway's 'Minnie the Moocher' takes the phrase national
1931
Follow-up 'Kickin' the Gong Around' released
mid-century
Falls out of use as the jive era fades
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide
northeast · 1930s
Spoken by
Harlem jive and jazz musicians
$KICKTHThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Fading95 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
30/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1931
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
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Citations & Sources
■
"Minnie the Moocher" — Cab Calloway — song · 1931
researched
■
+ Cite a source"Kickin' the Gong Around" — Cab Calloway (Arlen/Koehler) — song · 1931
researched
See also