Be There or Be Square

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Lorraine. I’m calling from Benita, California.

Hello, Lorraine. Welcome.

Hi, Lorraine.

Hi, thank you.

I had a question in regard to the phrase, be there or be square. It came up during a yoga class that my friends and I were at, and everyone said, I wonder what the derivation of that phrase might be.

Very interesting. You hear it a lot then, do you?

Yes, I do.

I’m picturing you going from a downward dog to what’s that pose where you look kind of square, you know? Upward dog, downward dog, and we’ve got all the dogs. Square dog, right?

Okay, so you’re talking about this in yoga class. It came up because someone said, oh, we need to come to a specific class next week, and it was mentioned, be there or be square.

Okay.

But this is something you’ve heard your whole life.

Oh, I’ve heard my whole life, but I never stopped to really analyze it. My thought might be it dates back to the hippie beatnik time when square seemed to be a phrase that was used a lot, but that’s just a guess on my part.

But you are the expert, so I figured you would have the answer.

Oh, right. I forgot. We’re the experts.

Oh, wait. When are they arriving?

Yeah, but you could use square like that or you could even do it wordlessly, right? Just make that little square.

Yeah, just make a square with your fingers, right?

Exactly. Yeah, true.

I’ll tell you, Lorraine, I might have something new for you. And when I say new, I mean this is something that nobody’s written about before, ever.

Okay, I’m listening.

Did you ever live in Los Angeles?

No, only San Diego.

Okay, only San Diego.

Okay.

There was a fellow by the name of Art LeBeau. And for all I know, Art LeBeau is still around. It’s L-A-B-O-E, Art LeBeau.

Okay.

And there’s an article from 1975 that talks about this guy. Apparently, he used to throw these huge disco-style dances at a place called the El Monte Legion Stadium. This is in the late 1950s and the early 1960s.

Okay.

And so Art would just plaster all of Los Angeles with these radio ads to get the kids to come out to dance at his dances. I mean, this story talks about thousands of people showing up at a place that was only supposed to hold, like, 1,500, and then thousands more being lined up around the street to try to get in.

He just knew how to sell his show, and he had all the greatest music.

I see.

Just good stuff.

So this is the El Monte Legion Stadium. The place has long since gone. In these radio ads that he broadcast all around Los Angeles, he had this standard pat phrase that was so common that people used to kind of recite this. You know how it is when you see a television ad repeatedly? You start saying it. There’s an app for that or whatever it is, right? You start saying their catchphrase.

Well, let me read you what his radio ads used to say. I don’t know what they sounded like, but I’m going to pretend, all right?

All right.

El Monte Legion Stadium, Saturday night. El Monte Legion Stadium, Saturday night. You’ll see ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends and meet and make new friends. El Monte Legion Stadium, Saturday night. Be there or be square. No capris or jeans, please.

Very good.

What was the last thing?

No capris or jeans?

Yeah.

No capris or jeans, please. You know, you’ve got to have some standards.

And so he would just plaster the airwaves in Los Angeles. And so fast forward a little bit. And so before you know it, this is kind of a catchphrase. And I’m not saying that he coined it. All I’m saying is that he popularized it. And it was so popular that this phrase shows up first in the other newspapers in the 1970s. And you find it in a stereo ad in 1973. And you find it in just a variety of places. And before you know it, everyone was using it.

Very good.

Who knew?

So interesting.

Thank you.

That’s great, Grant. You know, I actually thought for sure that it would be older than that. But I’ve got to tell you, I haven’t found anything from the 1940s or anything earlier than this guy. I haven’t found anything earlier at all than him where this phrase was used.

Okay, well, that’s good. I thought it might go to the beatniks and, I don’t know, the coffee houses. I’m from New York originally, and I remember when I was younger, there was a lot of the poetry reading and the hippie beatnik kind of thing, and the phrase square came up, I think, during that era, and I thought it might have been originated there. But I appreciate the information.

Hey, my pleasure.

Thank you.

Okay.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

How about that, Martha?

Way to go, Grant.

That’s awesome.

No capris or jeans, please. You know, they still do that on the hip-hop stations, right? They’ll talk about a big show, and then at the end they’ll say, no sneakers, please.

Oh, really?

I didn’t know that.

Oh, well. You know, you have to maintain a level of dress at these events, right?

I guess I’m square.

You’re very square.

What’s your favorite catchphrase? Do you want to find out a little more about it? Give us a call, 1-877-929-9673, or send an email to words@waywordradio.org.