“KAFOOFLING”

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 184, 25 October 1927, Page 5

“KAFOOFLING”

CHUCKING A SIX AND THROWING A PARTY While the Americanisation of our speech goes steadily forward, minus the nasal drawl, modern girls are developing a slang which is all their own. They do not indulge in petting parties. Their equivalent is a “kafoofle.” Those pretty organdie and chiffon posies, which have lateiv adorned dainty dance frocks, are known by

their owners as “kafoofling” flowers, i.e., aids to a “kafoofle.” When the girl who is just “out” breaks the regulations and arrives home from a party at 3 a.m., her mother does not scold—she chucks a six. Which, being interpreted, means simply throwing a fit. Hostesses of to-day do not entertain. They throw' parties. And the expression conveys the impression that the evening will be a wet one. To come to a bit of a hop is a milder invitation, with probably less lure conveyed in it. When the long-suffering mother of to-day ventures a protest at young daughter’s burning of the candle at both ends, she is coolly told by that' same maiden that she is ta taa or cuckoo. Rhubarb and beetroot imply unsatisfactory or unpopular results. Father to-day becomes the old stick. The American term popper, however, is trying its hardest to become fashionable.