Copasetic

[Michael McKernan]

With the originator's permission, I cross-post this message from the
Publore listserv (Public Sector Folklore, not the 'lore of pubs').  They
are currently discussing 'copasetic.'

>Credit where credit is due:  the word was coined by the great jazz tap
>artist Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1878-1949).  As his entry in American
>National Biography Online notes
>(http://www.anb.org/articles/18/18-00990.html), it was in his
>hometown of Richmond, Va., that "he invented the famous phrase
>'everything's copasetic,' meaning everything's tip-top or first-rate."
>
>--Jurretta Heckscher
~~~~~~
>Dr. Jurretta Jordan
>Heckscher
>Research Specialist
>Digital Reference Team
>The Library of Congress
>Washington, D.C.  20540-4604

Michael McKernan