Squares
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- For the "Squares" game, see Dots and Boxes
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During the swing era, the late 1920's to 1947, jazz musicians and their followers were called hepcats, and hep was used to describe people who were in the know, about music, night life, drugs, sex, etc. Swingers were known as hepcats. People who were not swingers were called squares. In the early 40's, squares who were fond of swing music but did not necessarily follow the hep lifestyle began using the term hep to describe themselves, so the musicians, in an attempt to distinguish themselves from the squares, began using the term hip instead of hep and hence, the hepcats became hipsters. In the 50's, hipsters began to be called beatniks. Squares, however, remained squares until the 1960's, when hipsters and beatniks became hippies, and squares became straights.
Another expression, derived from square, was the term "L7," or "strictly L Seven." This derives from the fact that an L and a 7, if drawn in a certain way, looks like a square. This expression probably originated later, during the 50's beatnik era.
See also Square
