What Did "Dig" Mean in the 1960s? A Clear Guide to This Classic Slang 2026

Quick Ans: In the 1960s, “dig” was a popular slang verb meaning to like, understand, appreciate, or enjoy something. If someone said “I dig that song,” they meant they liked it. If they asked “You dig?”, they were checking whether you understood. It was a cornerstone of jazz, beatnik, and hippie vocabulary during that era.

Few words capture the spirit of 1960s counterculture quite like “dig.” It was everywhere: in jazz clubs, on college campuses, in beatnik coffeehouses, and eventually in mainstream television and film. For a generation that valued cool detachment and deep experience, “dig” offered a way to express both comprehension and enthusiasm in a single syllable.

The word was not invented in the 1960s. Its slang usage traces back to the jazz culture of the 1930s and 1940s, rooted in African American Vernacular English . But the 1960s is when “dig” reached its peak visibility, becoming shorthand for a whole approach to life. This guide explains what “dig” meant in that decade, how it was used in everyday speech, where it came from, and why it faded from common use.

The Core Meaning of “Dig” in the 1960s

At its heart, “dig” in 1960s slang carried two intertwined meanings: to understand and to like or appreciate. The Oxford English Dictionary records the slang sense as “to understand, appreciate, like, admire,” with examples spanning from 1935 to 1969 . In practice, these meanings often blended together. To truly “dig” something was not just to comprehend it intellectually but to connect with it emotionally.

Here is how the word functioned in everyday speech:

“I dig that song.” (I really like it.)
“You dig what I’m saying?” (Do you understand?)
“I dig you, man.” (I appreciate you / I get you.)
“Dig this.” (Pay attention to this / Check this out.)

The word could be used as a standalone question (“Dig?”) to confirm understanding, a usage documented in Green’s Dictionary of Slang with citations from the late 1950s onward .

How “Dig” Was Used in 1960s Culture

The 1960s gave “dig” a cultural platform that earlier decades could not. Jazz musicians had used it for years, but the beatnik movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s brought it into the mainstream. A 1961 comedy album called How to Speak Hip by Del Close and John Brent explicitly taught listeners vocabulary like “dig,” “dig it,” and “dig yourself, baby” as part of its parody of Beat Generation culture .

By the mid-1960s, the word had spread into hippie circles and pop music. It appeared in song lyrics, film dialogue, and television scripts. The phrase “can you dig it?” became a cultural touchstone, later immortalized in the 1971 film Shaft and its theme song. Even after the 1960s ended, the word lingered briefly before fading. As one Irish Times column noted, hearing a character say “You dig?” in a movie instantly dates the film to no later than the early 1970s .

“Dig” in Music and Film

Music was the primary vehicle for “dig.” Jazz culture had nurtured the term, and as rock and soul music absorbed jazz influences, the word traveled with it. The 1971 Shaft theme, with its iconic line “They say this cat Shaft is a bad mother… shut your mouth! But I’m talkin’ ’bout Shaft… then we can dig it,” shows how the term had become part of the broader pop lexicon by the end of the 1960s .

Where “Dig” Came From

The etymology of slang “dig” is not entirely settled, but the most accepted explanation connects it to the literal act of digging as a metaphor for unearthing knowledge or understanding . The idea is that you “dig” into a subject the way you dig into the ground, excavating meaning from it.

The Oxford English Dictionary traces the slang sense to US origins, with examples from the 1930s and 1940s in jazz contexts . One early citation from 1935 reads: “If you listen enough, and dig him enough, you will realise that that riff is the high-spot of the record.” Another from 1944 defines “dig” as “meet, look, see, comprehend, understand” .

There is also a contested theory that “dig” derives from the Irish verb tuig, meaning “to understand.” The scholar Daniel Cassidy argued for this connection in his 2007 book How the Irish Invented Slang, though his methods were criticized by linguists . The mainstream view remains that “dig” developed independently in American jazz culture, likely from the metaphor of excavation.

Why “Dig” Faded from Use

By the early 1970s, “dig” had become dated. The countercultural associations that made it cool in the 1960s made it feel embarrassing in the following decade. Using “dig” sincerely after Watergate, as the Irish Times put it, was impossible with a straight face . Language learners today are often warned not to use it unless they are writing a play set in the mid-1960s .

The word survives in retro contexts, in period films and television shows, and occasionally in ironic or nostalgic usage. If you hear someone say “I dig it” today, they are almost certainly making a deliberate reference to that bygone era.

Frequently Asked Questions About “Dig” in the 1960s

What did “dig” mean in 1960s slang?

“Dig” meant to like, understand, appreciate, or enjoy something. It was used in phrases like “I dig that” (I like that) and “You dig?” (Do you understand?). It was common in jazz, beatnik, and hippie circles .

Was “dig” only used by hippies?

No. While it became associated with hippie culture, “dig” originated in African American jazz slang in the 1930s and 1940s. By the 1960s it had spread to beatniks, college students, and mainstream popular culture .

What does “can you dig it” mean?

“Can you dig it?” means “Do you understand?” or “Are you with me?” It was a way of checking that someone was following what you were saying. The phrase was popularized in 1960s and early 1970s film and music .

Is “dig” still used today?

Rarely in serious conversation. “Dig” in this slang sense is considered dated and is mostly used in retro or ironic contexts. Using it sincerely today would sound like you are imitating a 1960s movie .

Did “dig” mean something different in the 1960s than it does now?

The slang meaning has not changed, but its cultural currency has. In the 1960s, “dig” was fresh and widely used. Today it is recognized as a period slang term, preserved in media from that era but no longer part of everyday speech .

Conclusion

To answer the question of what “dig” meant in the 1960s: it was the era’s go-to word for expressing both understanding and appreciation. To dig something was to get it and to love it at the same time. Born in jazz culture, adopted by beatniks, and spread through hippie counterculture and pop music, “dig” became one of the defining slang terms of the decade. It has since faded into retro status, but it remains a vivid reminder of a time when saying “I dig it” was the coolest way to say you truly understood.