How to Speak Hip is a comedy album by Del Close and John Brent, released by Mercury Records in 1961.

Social notes are presented as for many language courses, and later in the album, the teacher (Close) is taken on field trips into the secret life of the hipster (Brent).

The album was illustrated in a style of line drawing popular throughout the 50s (similar to the early commercial work of Andy Warhol).

In the film Song of the Thin Man from 1947 the "straight" Nick and Nora have trouble following the jargon of the jazz musicians in the story.

During the 1950s, as people became conscious of the Beat Generation phenomena, amid fears of juvenile delinquency, there was an increased urgency to understand the language spoken by the new youth culture.