Entry · catalog no. 7019
murder
/ /ˈmɜːrdər/ /MUR-dur
n. · Harlem, New York · 1930s
✓ Verified
1.
Something excellent or terrific; a knockout. Used as praise, often as 'solid murder.'
“That last chorus was solid murder, gate!”
Origin & Attribution
Harlem swing slang, listed in Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary (1938) as "something excellent or terrific." The word turns menace on its head — to call a solo murder was to say nothing could top it.
1938
Defined in the Hepster's Dictionary as 'something excellent or terrific'
1940s
Common in bandstand praise before fading
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Northeast
Harlem, New York · 1930s
Spoken by
Harlem jazz world, 1930s-40s
$MURDERThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Faded88 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
1938
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.
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The Bronx, NY
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Philadelphia, PA
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Citations & Sources
■
Cab Calloway, Hepster's Dictionary: Language of Jive
1938
■
+ Cite a sourceCab Calloway, The New Cab Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary, revised edition
1944
See also