Hep

[Douglas G. Wilson]

A while back, I presented the antisemitic slogan or rallying-cry "Hep!" (or
"Hepp!") as a likely false acronym from the early 19th century. I
speculated that it never was really an acronym for "Hierosolyma est
perdita" but rather probably simply an interjection, used as a call to an
animal in German, or like "hip [hurrah]" or "hup [two three]" or
"[atten-]hut" in English.

The word became famous following the German "Hep-Hep-Unruhen" (antisemitic
riots) in 1819, apparently.

As a perhaps naive second thought, could this "Hep" be originally "Heb'" as
an abbreviation for something like "Hebräer", analogous to "Jude" > "Jud'"?
Can someone knowledgeable in German history and/or language make any comment?

-- Doug Wilson