more on prepositions

[Benjamin Zimmer]

On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 10:00 AM, Baker, John <JMB at stradley.com> wrote:
>
>        "Hate on" seems to come from, or at least to have been
> popularized by, rap, gangsta rap in particular.  Google Groups has it
> from 7/14/1996:
>
>        "First of all, you need to chill with your player hating on
> people
> who're being critical of Nas.  Your not doing your own argument an
> ounce of good by going ballsictic on peeps."
>
>        "Ballsictic" presumably is just a typo, but I rather like it.

Haven't found anything earlier than that, but it does appear in rap
lyrics before Dr. Dre's aforementioned "Forgot about Dre" (1999),
e.g.:

Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, "Hatin Nation" (1997)
Don't you hate on me, don't you hate on me.
http://www.ohhla.com/anonymous/bonethug/artofwar/nation.bne.txt


--Ben Zimmer

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