"Hep" vs. "Hip"

[Jonathan Lighter]

Wilson, are you 99.44% sure about "How ADJ is that?"

  It's become very prominent over the past few years (esp.in "How cool is that?"), but I can't say that I noticed it any earlier.

  JL

Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: Wilson Gray
Subject: Re: "Hep" vs. "Hip"
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Whoa! How lame is that?

When I was in the Army, "how ADJ is that?!" was quite a popular
catchphrase among my white colleagues, one of whom, I'm fairly certain
- well, as certain as anyone can be WRT this sort of thing - gave the
English-speaking world the still-used catchphrase, "Tell me about it!"
in the meaning, "Don't tell me about it, because I already understand
completely." If the phrase can be dated to any time prior to 1961,
then I'm more than willing to admit that I've been "living in a
dream," i.e. that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Yes, I realize that even a lack of earlier cites is not proof of my
claim. But, as the Canadians say, "What the hell, eh?" It's all in
good fun.

BTW, speaking of Canada, what happened with the thread re the proper
pronunciation of "Toronto"? Did anyone contact our colleague, Geoff
Nathan. about it? He's the one who taught me how to say it: "Tronna,"
IIRC. We were floormates at the LSA's institute at Buffalo in 1971.

-Wilson

On 12/23/06, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter
> Subject: Re: "Hep" vs. "Hip"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I took a Black Literature class in the early '70s. Our African-American professor - can't think of his name just now, but I believe he was from upstate N.Y. - used "hep" rather frequently.
>
> JL
>
> Wilson Gray wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: Wilson Gray
> Subject: "Hep" vs. "Hip"
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> 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
>
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--
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

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