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My dad’s about ten years older than you, and he’d sometimes call things “copacetic.” I used it too thinking it was a normal word, but only recently realized it’s very very outdated slang. I still kinda like it.
In the early 1990s I had some minor issue with a friend’s friend and he said “It’s copacetic.” I said “Oh, good.” From his tone I knew he meant something like “It’s cool (no problem),” but I had never seen/heard the word before.
The etymology is a mystery.
“fine, excellent, going well,” 1919, but it may have origins in 19c. U.S. Southern black speech. Origin unknown; suspects include Latin, Yiddish (Hebrew kol b’seder), Italian, Louisiana French (coupe-sétique), and Native American. Among linguists, none is considered especially convincing. The popularization, and sometimes the invention, of the word often is attributed to U.S. entertainer Bill “Bojangles” Robinson (1878-1949).
