big-up, v.

[Benjamin Zimmer]

A verb on the rise...

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http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2007/07/17/jaime_pressly_slams_ugly_betty_over_plas
StarPulse, July 17, 2007
Pressly explains, "They're purposefully big-upping the ugly fat girl
to make everybody feel great, but it also glamorizes the fact that
people are getting plastic surgery because they can."
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http://idolator.com/338411/will-a-poster-child-for-the-music-industrys-screw+ups-be-the-next-american-idol
Idolator, Dec. 27, 2007
This is actually the second time that Hennessy has been big-upped by
the Idol powers that be ... is big-upping this girl really the best
strategy to boost ratings?
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http://www.silive.com/entertainment/music/index.ssf/2008/01/budos_rising.html
SILive, Jan. 12, 2008
Legit blogs like Brooklyn Vegan and online publications like Pitchfork
and RollingStone.com have also big-upped the band.
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This can be traced ultimately to the Jamaican expression "big up(s)",
akin to "props". Some references:

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http://books.google.com/books?id=_-Mh_4MOCoAC
_Noises in the Blood_ (1995) by Carolyn Cooper, p. 192
The British-based DJ, Macka B, at the 28 December 1991 'Best of White
River Reggae Bash' concert in Ocho Rios, recognised the achievements
of world-famous Jamaicans who 'big-up' the nation.
[Quoting Macka B:] "Im big-up Jamaica, big-up Rastaman."
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http://books.google.com/books?id=Ph8TBR6LErQC
_Wake the Town & Tell the People: Dancehall Culture in Jamaica_ (2000)
by Norman C. Stolzoff, pp. 266-7
To big-up is to achieve a level of personal prominence. The expression
probably derives from the longer phrase "big up yu chest," which means
to "assume an air of importance" (Francis-Jackson 1995). Big-up is
also a greeting of respect. A DJ or selector will often say in the
course of a dance, "now big-up all massive and crew!" On a metaphoric
level, to big-up somebody is to give them social recognition and the
symbolic power that comes with it. In a society characterized by
extreme inequality, bigger is better than smaller, and up is better
than down.
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http://books.google.com/books?id=CjT-gPgkDIIC
_Caribbean Currents_ (2006) by Peter Manuel et al., pp. 211-2
A dub plate -- also known as a "special" -- is a short recording made
by a deejay (or "artist") in which he sings a few lines, usually to
the tune of a familiar song of his, substituting new verses that "big
up" a particular sound system, which he mentions by name.
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--Ben Zimmer

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