bop
Complex improvisational jazz
Bop works as both verb and noun for a quick, light hit: She bopped him on the head with a rolled-up newspaper.
To bop somewhere is to go casually or aimlessly: We bopped around town all afternoon.
Bop is also short for bebop, the improvisational jazz style that emerged in the 1940s.
A bop, in recent slang, is a song that really hits—an undeniable jam: This track is a bop.
Strike with fist
Bebop alto saxophone innovator
- cool jazzRelaxed 1950s improvisational music
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- scat singingNonsense-syllable jazz vocals
- jam sessionInformal improvisational music gathering
Dizzy Gillespie · Thelonious Monk · syncopation · solos · saxophone · trumpet · piano · double bass
Suspended recreational seat
Decade or age range
- sock hopInformal school dance
- dinerCasual American eatery
- jukeboxCoin-operated music player
- malt shopRetro milkshake parlor
poodle skirt · soda fountain · drive-in · bobby socks · greaser · rockabilly · nostalgia · vintage
punch
Strike with fist
thump · knock · tap · swat · cuff · clout · sock · slug · wallop · slap
Charlie Parker
Bebop alto saxophone innovator
- cool jazzRelaxed 1950s improvisational music
- improvisationSpontaneous, unplanned creation
- scat singingNonsense-syllable jazz vocals
Dizzy Gillespie · Thelonious Monk · jam session · syncopation · solos · saxophone · trumpet · piano · double bass · drum kit
swing
Suspended recreational seat
- lindy hopHarlem-born swing dance style
- jitterbugEnergetic swing-era partner dance
- jiveSwing-era dance or bunk
boogie · shimmy · groove · sway · bounce · hop · step · twirl · spin · partner
fifties
Decade or age range
malt shop · poodle skirt · soda fountain · drive-in · bobby socks · greaser · rockabilly · nostalgia · vintage · oldies
bounce
Spring back after impact
verve · pizzazz · oomph · spark · liveliness · zest · vim · vigor · spring · jaunt
- impact soundsbam, bang, bash, bonk, boom
- rhythmbeat, pulse, tempo, downbeat, upbeat
- Chicagothe Loop, Chicago, Chicago River, Lake Michigan, Wrigley Field
- dance movespirouette, shimmy, waltz, tango, cha-cha
- playful movementsfrolic, gambol, romp, caper, cavort
- OxbridgeOxford, Oxbridge, Oxford University, Cambridge University, Exeter
bopswing
Suspended recreational seat
big band · traditional jazz · Dixieland · cool jazz · smooth jazz
- bop on the head
- Kidz BopChild-friendly cover series
- Bop ItVoice-commanded reaction game
- hard bopFunky post-bebop jazz style
- Blitzkrieg Bop