Wolof hip

[Jonathan Lighter]

I believe it was David Dalby who first made this suggestion about 1967 or '68.  I also seem to recall that he made clear that it was only a suggestion, part of his interest in investigating West African languages for possibly overlooked etymologies of English words.  "Jitterbug" was also on the list.

So far as I know, substantive evidence of a Wolof origin for "hip/hep" (or vice versa) has never been adduced.

JL
David Bergdahl <einstein at FROGNET.NET> wrote:
---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: David Bergdahl
Subject: Wolof hip
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Clear DayThe first place I saw the Wolof etymology for "hip" and "hep" was
in J. L. Dillard's Black English.
________________________________
"Raffiniert ist der Herr Gott aber Boshaft ist er nicht"
--Albert Einstein


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