more on prepositions

[Arnold Zwicky]

On Jan 7, 2009, at 6:25 AM, Arnold Zwicky wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Arnold Zwicky <zwicky at STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      more on prepositions
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>
> an intransitive "hate", mentioned in a comment on languagehat's
> blog...

and in the Urban Dictionary:

1. n. then v. Based on the model of the noun "hard on", a hate on is
an active hatred for someone or something that causes a visible
physical reaction in a similar fashion that an erection would be a
tell-tale sign of affection. Despite its origin, it is rarely used in
a sexual context. It is male juvenile slang in the sense that it
links, even indirectly, an emotion (hatred, jealousy, envy) to the
male teenage obsession with the penis.

(noun) John has a hate on for all Republicans in Congress.

(verb) Please don't hate on me for being beautiful.

2. to insult or verbally attack someone. originally implied jelousy,
now also used for more generally applied abuse. ['dis, slam']

3. v. To be jealous of another's success or talent. Note that the
person being hated on must posess these qualties; thus it is not
possible to hate on Ja Rule, Hilary Duff, or Paris Hilton, for
example. [with Dr. Dre lyrics, also in languagehat comments]



>
>
>   http://www.languagehat.com/archives/003363.php
> .....
> So what about "hating on"? I have only seen this in intenet use,
> here's three from the same thread:
>
>   Tweety is the best around because he is cute and addorible no
> matter how big his head may be. Tweety is still very attractive to me.
> So please stop hating on my baby.
>   4 AlL u HaT3Rz Dat r HatIn on Tweety he RoCkZ Hell Y3Ah SO iF u
> HatIN FUK U!!!
>   Why are they hatin on tweety he’s so cute and innocent and for all
> yall that be hatin on my favorite cartoon character can go where the
> sun dont shine he might be fake but his character is makin more money
> than his haters
> ..Love ya Tweety
> I'm not exactly sure what this "hating on" consists of either, since
> no one posted any remark that was even remotely negative about the
> cartoon character. But I fervently hope that a hundred years from now
> this bit of *indefensible slang* is not even a memory.
>
> Posted by: Nijma at January 6, 2009 05:13 PM
> ....
>
> then comments suggesting a meaning nuance:
> .....
>
> I like 'hating on'. I don't think I'd use it, but I like it just fine,
> expressive and not really covered by any other construction AFAIK.
>
> Posted by: michael farris at January 6, 2009 06:07 PM
> .....
>
> To hate on: To be envious of someone's style (used in a broad sense)
> and therefore ridicule it.
>
> I like it a lot myself, and even use it sometimes...
>
> .....
>
> Posted by: jamessal at January 6, 2009 06:51 PM
> To me, "hate on" seems to mean active expression of hatred, whereas
> "hate" is a disposition or attitude.
>
> Posted by: John Emerson at January 6, 2009 07:08 PM
> .....
>
> and a speculation about its social distribution:
> .....
>
> For some reason, I ... thought "hating on" was an entirely African
> American expression.
>
> Posted by: Nijma at January 6, 2009 07:38 PM
> .....
>
> No one has mentioned it explicitly, maybe because it's obvious, but
> "hate on" is AAVE AFAIK. Earliest usage example I could find was in
> Dr. Dre's "Forgot about Dre", recorded in 1999. It seems basically to
> have originally meant "be jealous of", although I'm sure there's
> nuance I'm missing. (Hard to believe Dre is 43.)
>
> Posted by: komfo,amonan at January 6, 2009 11:13 PM
> .....
>
> (also some discussion of "hit on" vs. "hit", suggested by phonological
> similarity to "hate on" vs. "hate" -- though there's no semantic
> relationship.)
>
> arnold
>
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