“Cool Beans” History and Origins

Hi there, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Martita calling from San Antonio, Texas.

Hey Martita, welcome.

What can we do for you?

The question that I have is, where did the phrase cool beans come from?

That’s something that my mother used to say, I guess I grew up in the 70s, actually the 60s in Michigan.

And I find myself seeing it all the time and people ask me, you know, where, you know, where does that come from? What does it mean? And I really don’t know what to tell them. All I know is that my mom used to say it and it it made me feel good hearing it. And so now I just say it to people all the time. Cool beans, B-E-A-N-S, beans? Yes, cool beans. What was happening when she said it? What was going on? So it could be like, I’m telling her something that I did or something that I’d like to do. And she would, that would be her response, like cool beans. Like, and I always took it like good for you or, you know, that sounds good. You know, I agree or something like that. That’s the kind of the way I kind of process it. Affirmation or approval. Yes. Yes. That’s how I’ve heard. I had an aunt who used to say that all the time. It seems like the 1980s were the cool beans decade for her. Cool beans. You’d open a present at a family gathering and she’d be like, cool beans. And then I had a friend in college that was her saying, cool beans, cool beans. Barb Barrett, if you’re out there, I remember. But it was pretty widespread in the 1980s. And the first use that I know of was a bit of graffiti that’s recorded in a newspaper article from 1981 about high school students putting graffiti up about their class years. And it’s Cool Beans 81. So the class of 81 graffitied Cool Beans 81 somewhere in this town. And then you can find it in lists of teen slang in newspapers from 1982 forward.

Now, if you Google cool beans and slang, you will find a bunch of people who say that it was popularized by the television show Full House.

I did see that, yeah.

Olsen twins, yeah, and Bob Saget and Dave Couillet and so forth.

I got to tell you, I haven’t been able to prove that.

And a lot of the fans of Full House, although the show was known for catchphrases, are skeptical about it as well.

So it’s possible somebody said cool beans is a catchphrase on the show, but that show didn’t start until 1987.

And the phrase cool beans was already well entrenched in American slang by 1987.

It was already underway.

So I may have popularized it if it was on there at all, but it certainly didn’t coin it or start it.

Okay.

Well, I can’t even remember when I started hearing it.

I love that.

Thank you.

I can’t wait to tell everybody the next time they start asking me.

I’m thinking about this phrase, and it’s completely nonsensical, right?

I mean, what’s great about beans that are cool?

I’d rather have mine warm.

Right.

What about a three-bean salad, Martha?

Oh, that’s true.

Three-bean salads are cool.

I always hated that salad, but it is a cool salad.

Well, you know, it’s funny when you said that, I thought the same thing.

Yeah, it’s like, okay, that hasn’t ever been my favorite.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I don’t know, but beans have been used as slang for money.

Maybe cool beans means good money.

I don’t know.

That could be.

And there’s lots of speculation about this, but really we don’t know the origin of cool beans, and we don’t know why beans.

It’s just a question.

Well, Martita, thank you so much for calling.

It’s been great to talk with you.

You as well.

Thank you.

You guys take care.

Have a wonderful day.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

You too.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

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