Date:    Sun, 29 Mar 1998 17:41:53 -0500
<br>From:    Gerald Cohen  gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU 
<br>Subject: "Cool beans!"
<br>
<br>   I was recently asked about a teenage slang expression that I had never
<br>previously heard: "Cool beans!" Several of my students are familiar with it
<br>and agree it's been around for at least 8 years.  They regard it as a
<br>synonym of "Cool!"
<br>
<br>   I don't find this expression in RHHDAS, but it appears in Tom Dalzell's
<br>_Flappers 2 Rappers_, (subtitle): _American Youth Slang_, p.178:  "The
<br>1970s and 1980s... COOL BEANS!--I'm doing great! [Then in italics] This
<br>expression was always used as a response to the question, "How are you?"
<br>regardless of the form in which the question was asked."
<br>
<br>    Does anyone have any idea about the origin of this expression? In
<br>particular, why "beans"?
<br>
<br>--Gerald Cohen
<br>
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<br>gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu
<br>