ADS-L Digest - 14 Jun 2010 to 15 Jun 2010 (#2010-167)

[Rose Wilkerson]

Does anyone now the origin of the expression "cool beans"?  I picked
it up from a friend of mine in Chicago; I'm from the San Francisco Bay
Area myself.  Here's an example of it's use between another friend of
mine (a native Californian) and myself on Facebook IM chat:

FRIEND - you may get an email

ME - Oh yeah, who?

FRIEND - it was a grad student from USC
who is working on null copula constructions in ... singapore english, i think

ME - Oh ok, cool! I'll keep an eye out for the email.

FRIEND - cool
it was a very busy conference we met at
so he may forget
but he was interested

ME - cool beans.
...as my friend would say.

FRIEND - hehe
hey!
i say that sometimes

Later in the chat, my friend and I wondered where this expression came
from.  Since we're both from the west coast and I, myself, learned it
from a mid-westerner, I'm thinking it may have originated in the
Mid-West?  Not a very scientific way of investigating the origins, I
know.  But please let me know what you come up with.

Thanks,

Rose Wilkerson, Postdoctoral Fellow
Washington University in St. Louis

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