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

Peter Reitan pjreitan at HOTMAIL.COM
Fri Jan 31 17:14:23 UTC 2020


I had a similar thought. Good line of inquiry, in any case.
________________________________
From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
Sent: Friday, January 31, 2020 3:42:10 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Subject: Re: "putting [someone] 'hep to the good thing''' 1902 (an antedating? my 1903)

---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU>
Subject:      Re: "putting [someone] 'hep to the good thing''' 1902 (an
              antedating? my 1903)
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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 m=
ay help (or get you hep to) the proposal.

"Michael Hessheimer of Lincoln, Neb., had been sick over three years, but s=
ix bottles of Electric Bitters put him helped thousands....Only 50c at drug=
gists." 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 Stephe=
n 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 ante=
dating? 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 plu=
nder 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=3Dhttps-3A__chroniclingamerica.l=
oc.gov_lccn_sn84020274_1902-2D01-2D03_ed-2D1_seq-2D6_-23date1-3D1902-26inde=
x-3D0-26rows-3D20-26searchType-3Dadvanced-26language-3D-26sequence-3D0-26wo=
rds-3Dgood-2Bhep-26proxdistance-3D5-26date2-3D12-252F31-252F1902-26ortext-3=
D-26proxtext-3D-26phrasetext-3Dhep-2Bto-2Bthe-2Bgood-26andtext-3D-26dateFil=
terType-3Drange-26page-3D1&d=3DDwIFAw&c=3DimBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR=
0Sj_gZ4adc&r=3DuUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=3DULwa13MBP8fH=
4gKiwLWe3rkYDrNK0zyw0_XWUigios0&s=3DZXiGjJsB6-a9LGuPhgRd8BufsGDsaVcy5ag3AOb=
IrKo&e=3D

PS. A (new?) etymological proposal may follow, but now mere reporting.



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