"Where You Goin', But?"

"Thud!"

That was one expressive word in U.S. teen-age use last week to convey a common feeling about the reopening of school. Nothing, teen-agers thought, could be more "frip" than getting down to work in the first weeks of fall.

This annual melancholia did not generally extend to U.S. parents. Popeyed, they watched the new styles in clothes and friends take form; only half believing, they listened as, with the fall semester, the language began its annual metamorphosis on teen-age tongues.

Baby & Buggy. While "frip" has replaced "lousy" in the South, "hairy" seems to be the coming word for it on the West Coast. In Denver, socially boresome classmates formerly referred to as "creeps" are now called "meals"; a "sizzle" is a general term describing anyone from a creep to a showoff. In Chicago, last year's "D.D.T." (drop dead twice) is still fashionable; the dangling "but," sounded with rising inflection on the end of any declaration or question, is new there. Example: "Where you goin', but?" In Detroit, high school girls now talk of the "goofs we go with"; in San Francisco a nice guy is a "good head."

Atlanta seemed to have the jump on most cities; there the new speech, far more than a few disconnected words, is fast growing into a full-fledged slanguage. Two youngsters meet with the new Atlanta greeting, "Ahhh, Rooshan!" The conversation goes on:

"Climb into my zoom buggy and come on down to Rusty's for a naked steak and a P.C." (Let's drive to the eatery fof a hamburger--with no trimmings--and a plain chocolate milk.)

"Sorry, I'm going to see my N.W.A.B. (A girl who necks with any boy.)

"Dear Gussie, we must fall flat on our faces five times. Have been." (That's too bad. I'll see you later.)

In Atlanta, does even an "ook" give out with a wolf whistle, but? No. When girls pass by, more likely the air is rent with cries of "Woowoo, choo-choo," or even a snatch of verse: "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, come on, baby, you must, you must."

Buckles & Boots. Teen-age styles are also changing. Everywhere, the girls seem to be wearing hip-hugging skirts, shorter and far tighter than last year. Sloppy sweaters are on the way out, tighter ones topped with ropes of imitation pearls on the way in. Said one San Francisco high-school girl: "The word this year is meticulous."

With the boys, T-shirts and open collars are still popular, but almost everywhere it is becoming fashionable to wear the shirts tucked in. Argyle socks, preferably knitted by a "connected" girl, are much in demand. In Seattle, there is even a real effort to keep shoes shined and hair cut. One new fad in the East: black belts buckled in back.

In Detroit, the boys have adopted a high-laced boot cut on heavy ski-boot lines, which makes an impressive clatter in high-school corridors. For girls, the ballerina slipper is fashionable for anything from study hall to football games. In either sex, of course, only a "squeegie" would wear a hat.

In short, fall was off to a normal start.

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