Slang "kickin' it" (= "chillin'")

[Jim Parish]

Gerald Cohen asked:
>  Today I was watching the TV show, Judge Judy, and she asked the
> defendant what he was doing at a friend's house.  He said softly:
> "Chillin'."  The judge didn't understand, and so he explained a bit
> louder, "chillin," "kickin' it."  She later picked up on both his use of
> "chillin'" and "kickin' it."
>
>      "Kickin' it" ( = "chillin'") is new to me.  What is its original reference?  I.e., what is being figuratively kicked here?  And does this expression appear in any dictionaries of slang?

Just a guess, but I associate it with the (older?) form "kicking back". (I
also associate the latter with recliner chairs, but that's even more
speculative.)

Jim Parish

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