has my back

[Ditra Henry]

In Chi-Town,  many African americans use the I go'cho back phrase.

In a fighting context or on the basketball court

I also noticed police and street talkers using similar clauses such as
 he got dead
these terminologies appear to have common contextual usage since
competition
can be analogous to combat.

Ditra Henry
Northeastern Illinois University
Chicago, Illinois  60625


On Wed, 28 Apr 1999, Donald M. Lance wrote:

> This afternoon I heard a Virginia student in an NPR interview say that who
> or what has his back is God. This was in response to a question about where
> kids get their sense of appropriate behavior.
>
> Familar to anyone?  I suppose it may have its roots in "monkey on my back"
> or "my mother is on my back" etc.
> DMLance
>