jitterbug
pronunciation
How to pronounce jitterbug in British English:
UK [ˈdʒɪtəbʌg]
How to pronounce jitterbug in American English:
US [ˈdʒɪtərbʌg]
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- Noun:
- a jerky American dance that was popular in the 1940s
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- Verb:
- do the jitterbug
Word Origin
- jitterbug (n.)
- popular type of fast swing dance, 1938, American English, from "Jitter Bug," title of a song recorded by Cab Calloway in 1934. Probably the literal sense is "one who has the jitters" (see jitters; for second element see bug (n.) in the slang "person obsessed with" sense). Another sense current about this time was "swing music enthusiast." As a verb from 1938.
Example
- 1. Are they the judges from the jitterbug contest she won ?
- 2. Then we learned to jitterbug at the uso place downtown .
- 3. On our first or second date , dave asked me so many earnest questions about my award-winning background in ballroom dance that I finally confessed I knew only the jitterbug .