keep it real = authentic

[Wilson Gray]

Then there are the two Dave Chappelle sketches, "When 'Keeping It
Real' Goes Wrong," which has inspired several imitators, available on
YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=when+keeping+it+real+goes+wrong&search_type=&aq=f

As Chappelle uses the phrase, it appears to have little to do with
authenticity. Rather, it appears to relate to maintaining one's social
status in the face of any challenge thereto whatsoever. As H. Rap
Brown once put it:

"I'm a member of the Bathtub Club: I see a whole lot of ass, but I
don't take no shit."

-Wilson

On Mon, Jul 14, 2008 at 1:30 PM,  <RonButters at aol.com> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       RonButters at AOL.COM
> Subject:      keep it real = authentic
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> In a message dated 7/14/08 1:26:55 PM, Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL writes:
>
>
>> I suppose reasonable people could disagree, but the Boss seems to be
>> using the phrase as I currently hear it (and I'm not sure I agree with
>> Zibart's characterization of "real" as "cathartic".)
>>
>
> yes--that's how I hear it: "authentic," not "cathartic"
>
>
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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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