"Sock It to Me"

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Sat, 4 Jun 2005 23:05:24 -0400, Wilson Gray <wilson.gray at RCN.COM> wrote:

>This was indeed the chorus. However, I know of no reason to believe
>that Aretha's "Respect" is either the origin or even the popularizer of
>the contemporary meaning of the phrase. It was used as a catch phrase
>on the TV show, "Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In." This is a far more likely
>source for the general public than the song. "Respect," given that
>Aretha had not yet crossed the color line at that time.

Could you clarify what you mean by that?  "Respect" hit #1 on the pop
charts in June '67, and that year she had a few other Top Ten hits ("Baby
I Love You," "I Never Loved A Man (The Way I Love You)," "(You Make Me
Feel Like) A Natural Woman").  So how exactly had she "not yet crossed the
color line"?

>>From the BBC
>Comedy Guide: "The series [1967-1973]  was stuffed full of recurring
>characters, skits and, in particular, _catch phrases_, all of which
>were soon ringing around the school-halls and workplaces of America.
>These included _'Sock it to me'_ (usually said by the
>American-domiciled British actress Judy Carne, who duly became known as
>the 'sock it to me girl')..." Before that, it was a common -
>undocumented, needless to say - slang term amongst the colored.


--Ben Zimmer