jive turkey meaning (dated): definition, etymology and quotations

jive turkey

noun

Etymology Coined in the 1970s, originally African-American.

US, Dated, Derogatory, Idiomatic, Slang A fool, a chump, a target for jiving.

African-American Vernacular

[1970s school principal:] You girls better get with what's going down! I am not a jive turkey and this school is not a jive turkey! Any questions?1989, Lynda Barry, “String Heads”, in Ernie Pook's Comeek:

US, Dated, Idiomatic, Slang Someone who performs the jive dance, especially in an amusing or showy manner.

US, Dated, Idiomatic, Slang Someone who behaves in a glib and disingenuous fashion, a jiver.