"Hep" vs. "Hip"

[Paul Johnson]

I agree, as a provincial Chicagoan I was confused when Hep morphed into
hip about 1949 I think.
Question, how come there were never any hipcats?

Wilson Gray wrote:

> As I was reading through a list of the Christmas sounds (here =
> "music") of my lost youth, I came across
>
> 1955-ROCKIN' 'N' ROLLIN' WITH SANTA CLAUS-The Hepsters
>
> 19_55_?! The _Hep_sters?!
>
> I would have bet money, i.e. as opposed to merely using the phrase, "I
> bet you," that "hep" in all its forms had died out before 1950!
>
> One never knows, do one?
>
> -Wilson
> --
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -----
> -Sam'l Clemens
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org