[Ads-l] "putting [someone] 'hep to the good thing''' 1902 (an antedating? my 1903)

Sun Feb 2 11:00:48 UTC 2020

Thank you Wilson! I like your reference:
"Of further interest is the title of the Cab Calloway tune,
"We the Cats Shall _Help_ You"
Or should that be,
"We the Cats Shall _Hep_ Ya"

Thank you Gerald! I've requested a copy of the article in which you got there first.
I may have more to say after further reading. But for now:

Some sources posit a Joe Hepp. I do not doubt that a US 19th-century person named Joe Hepp existed (one such advertised in a newspaper for laborers), but find no reason to connect him with the origin. In fact, if the following can be credited, the Joe connection came after. (Maybe like GI Joe came after GI.)
1906 (Mar 25) Kansas City Star, MO [AHN] p14/3 '...parlance of the circus...the manager [[is called]] "Joe Hep," "wise guy," "brass collar, or "big chief." "Joe Hep" comes from the expression "I am hep to you."'

As to a hypothetical boy scout saying a hypothetical sentence, I first nitpick by saying there were no US Boy Scouts in 1902. That minor observation, though, does flag anachronism. I might not (typically, except now) say "After the hurricane, cousins Sue and Sally came on down along in here and hept to rebuild." But one of my maternal NC grandparents might have done; my paternal grandparents, born in Sweden, probably not.
I am proposing a transition in usage, for some time, for some speakers. Other examples may follow.

Thanks,
Stephen Goranson
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Andy Bach <afbach at GMAIL.COM>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2020 1:00 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: [ADS-L] "putting [someone] 'hep to the good thing''' 1902 (an antedating? my 1903)

'"Get hept" to the vaudeville habit.' Augusta Chronicle, GA, March 21,
1909, 10/2. [N-s.com]
"Hold this note long enough and get hept to the real lay of things....This
is nuf sed." San Francisco Call, April 16, 1911, 85/2 [Chronicling America]
The understanding that Fessenden had was that he was to get $800 of the
plunder for putting the man of mines "hep to the good thing."

To me, these don't seem to be using it as a synonym of "help" or "helped"
but more "put in the know[ledge] of". I guess "helped to make aware of",
but I don't imagine anybody saying "the boy scout hep the old lady across
the street" in the same sense as "the boy scout hep the old lady to a good
thing in the 3rd at the Aqueduct."

On Fri, Jan 31, 2020 at 5:42 AM Stephen Goranson <goranson at duke.edu> wrote:

> I suggest that "hep," in the sense in the 1902 text below, and also
> "hept," may have originated from US dialect pronunciation of "help" and
> "helped." That help and hep are equivalent in, say, "let me hep you with
> that" needs no detailed argument (or see DARE for examples). Here are a few
> uses that may help (or get you hep to) the proposal.
>
> "Michael Hessheimer of Lincoln, Neb., had been sick over three years, but
> six bottles of Electric Bitters put him helped thousands....Only 50c at
> druggists." Concord Daily Tribune, NC, Oct. 17, 1912, 2/3. [Newspapers.com]
>
> '"Get hept" to the vaudeville habit.' Augusta Chronicle, GA, March 21,
> 1909, 10/2. [N-s.com]
>
> "Hold this note long enough and get hept to the real lay of things....This
> is nuf sed." San Francisco Call, April 16, 1911, 85/2 [Chronicling America]
>
> Stephen
> ________________________________
> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
> Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2020 8:13 AM
> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Subject: [ADS-L] "putting [someone] 'hep to the good thing''' 1902 (an
> antedating? my 1903)
>
> In a race track scheme story with "slang." Open access, so I'll type only
> a little. Here, "man of mines" is a long-shot bettor rich from lead and
> zinc mining.
>
> The Republic, St. Louis, MO, Friday, January 3, 1902 [corrected date],
> page 6, col. 2. [1]
>
> <start>
> The understanding that Fessenden had was that he was to get $800 of the
> plunder for putting the man of mines "hep to the good thing."
> <end>
>
> Stephen Goranson
> http://people.duke.edu/~goranson/
>
> [1]
>
> https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__chroniclingamerica.loc.gov_lccn_sn84020274_1902-2D01-2D03_ed-2D1_seq-2D6_-23date1-3D1902-26index-3D0-26rows-3D20-26searchType-3Dadvanced-26language-3D-26sequence-3D0-26words-3Dgood-2Bhep-26proxdistance-3D5-26date2-3D12-252F31-252F1902-26ortext-3D-26proxtext-3D-26phrasetext-3Dhep-2Bto-2Bthe-2Bgood-26andtext-3D-26dateFilterType-3Drange-26page-3D1&d=DwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=ULwa13MBP8fH4gKiwLWe3rkYDrNK0zyw0_XWUigios0&s=ZXiGjJsB6-a9LGuPhgRd8BufsGDsaVcy5ag3AObIrKo&e=
>
> PS. A (new?) etymological proposal may follow, but now mere reporting.
>
>
>
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--

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
608 261-5738 wk

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