Katzman is credited with coming up with the word "beatnik." Supposedly,
he was at a recording studio as the score for one of his teen musicals
was being put together. He heard two musicians talking, and one of them
asked why a third musician they both knew didn't show up for the
session. The other musician said, "That cat was just beat, Nick."
Katzman misunderstood "beat, Nick" for "beatnik" (as in Sputnik), liked
the sound of it, and started using it in his movies and in his everyday
life to describe the younger generation he worked with. It caught on
and made its way into the language.