See you later, alligator.
It’s a phrase we use from time to time without giving much thought to its origins. Don’t worry, it’s not racist or anything, so you’re cool to keep using it if that’s your jam, but if you’re wondering where the strange phrase actually came from, keep reading, pals.
As you very likely know, it’s simply a way of saying goodbye, often responded to with ‘in a while, crocodile’ because, you know, rhyming. You may also be aware that the phrase features heavily (read: almost entirely) in a song literally titled, See You Later, Alligator, written and first recorded by American singer-songwriter, Bobby Charles in 1954.
The song’s popularity skyrocketed when it was re-recorded by Bill Haley & His Comets in 1955.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ch1UQ47rWKU
Now, I was under the impression that the phrase came from the song, but upon digging a little deeper, it appears ‘see you later, alligator’ originated the same way most of our bizarre phrases do – teenagers. That’s right, ‘see you later, alligator’ started as ~cool~ and ~hip~ teen slang. Unreal.
According to the website, Word Histories, it was first written about by Suzanne Kramer in 1951 in the US publication, Banner-Tribune, as part of an article titled, “Teen Biz,” which was just a teen slang translation which included the phrase, among some others. Yep, lame adults have been trying to decipher teen slang for decades.
There is a heap of these articles stretching from 1951 to around 1954, but my favourite excerpt is from a piece titled, ‘Do Kids Speak English?’ which is a question I feel like I ask myself more every day. It really breaks down the concept, perhaps a little too far:
“The ‘alligator’ is an all-encompassing term and relieves the party of having to recite several names,” writer, Lester Rand, says. Well, no shit man.
You could say that ‘see you later alligator’ was the ‘lit’ or ‘fam’ of the Baby Boomer generation, albeit, an incredibly lame version, but you know it would have been all the bloody rage back in the day. A lot of similar phrases from that time included the likes of “toodle-oo tofu” and “so long, dai-kong” so, uh, rhyming was obviously a real hit with the kids in the 50s.
And if you wanna meet an alligator you’d wanna see way, way later (if at all), check out the trailer for the upcoming flick ‘CRAWL‘ and give yourself the heeby-jeebies in a big way. It hits cinemas on July 11 and stars the incredibly good Kaya Scodelario.
On that note, see ya later, alligator!
