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This is the Conversation Forum for Jack Kerouac On and off the road >> Subject: Beat Posted May 22, 2001 by aliashell   Posting 1 I always thought that the term 'Beat', that Kerouac coined, was derived from the grander 'Beatific' meaning spiritually enlightened. Can anyone the pinpoint origins of the phrase more accurately? Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Beat Posted Jun 12, 2001 by Researcher 179291 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 2 The impression I got was just a stretched use of the normal meaning of the word 'beat' - tired, worn out, etc., like he and his fellow beatists (but Kerouac in particular) were tired of traditional writing formats and wanted to try something more spontaneous and lyrical, which also connects with the influence of jazz on the writing. Also from them just being plain ol' worn out from all that travelling around. There's no proper definition, but some other peoples opinions of the derivation on the excellent 'literary kicks' website on the beat writers but based around Kerouac. I forget the actual address; just type 'literary kicks' into a search engine' if you're interested. Read the First Reply to this Posting Subject: Beat Posted Jul 4, 2001 by aliashell This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 3 I have checked out this web site before. I thought it was well constructed and well researched. On a re-read of On the Road last week I came accross the line ( to paraphrase somewhat as I don't remember it verbatim ) " Dean was beat, the pure definition of beatific." I think this is maybe one of origins of the phrase. Subject: Beat Posted Apr 16, 2004 by konstantine_11 This is a reply to this Posting   Posting 4 It is basically accepted that the term came from a conversation that Kerouac had with John Clellon. He said "this is the beat generation," but never explained what it meant. see www.charm.net/~brooklyn/topics/beatetymology.html Conversation list Most of the content on h2g2 is created by h2g2's Researchers, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click on the relevant button to alert our Moderation Team. Conversation list

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