Ofay etymology (speculative)

[Cohen, Gerald Leonard]

The derivation of "ofay" from "au fait" (= socially proper; genteel; a term of apparently limited use in black speech) was already set forth by me in Comments on Etymology, vol. 23, no. 5, Feb. 1994, pp. 9-11 and then reprinted with a few revisions in Gerald Cohen: "Black Slang _Ofay_ 'White Person' Derives From _Au Fait_ 'Socially Proper; Genteel'" in the volume I co-edited/co-wrote with Barry Popik: _Studies in Slang, part VI_ (= Forum Anglicum, vol. 24), Frankfurt am Main: Peter Lang, 1999, pp.48-51.

    In the same volume (pp. 52-53)  I also have a brief article titled "Black Slang _Ofaginzy_ 'White Person,'" which I speculate derives from French (C'est) au fait ainsi (= It's correct thus, i.e., this way). On a general note I concluded that we should not overlook the French-speaking blacks of Louisiana and their possible contributions to American English.

Gerald Cohen