up the yin-yang

[Benjamin Barrett]

It may be possible that the concept of "yin and yang" has affected "up the ying-yang" for many people, including myself.

There is a possible opposite effect, too. "ying and yang" gets 950K Googits.

In the episode "The Second Coming" of the Sopranos (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Second_Coming_(The_Sopranos)), Tony Soprano (James Gandolfini) says:

"There's a balance. There's a ying and a yang."

He is very clear and the subtitles have "ying" as well.

Although both Spanish and French use the "yin" spelling, the Spanish subtitles follow along with the incorrect pronunciation: "Hay un equilibro, un ying y un yang" but the French subtitles do not: "Il y a un équilibre. Il y a un yin et un yang."

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

On Sep 26, 2011, at 4:33 AM, <sclements at neo.rr.com> <sclements at neo.rr.com> wrote:

> It was "ying yang" to my college aged ears in 1963(about when I heard it).
>
> No doubt in the forthcoming volume of Jon's work which dealt with the "Y's"
>
> Sam Clements
> ---- Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at IX.NETCOM.COM> wrote:
>> On Sep 26, 2011, at 1:19 AM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>>
>>> On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 2:13 AM, Benjamin Barrett <gogaku at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>>>> 1976
>>>
>>> And it was already in use sixteen years earlier, when I first heard
>>> it. My impression is that I first heard it in 1960 not because it was
>>> new, but because I hadn't had sufficient social interaction with
>>> college-grade white guys before that year. I don't think that the
>>> phrase ever gained any traction among blacks. But, of course,
>>>
>>> Youneverknow.
>>>
>>> I recall "up the ying-yang" as the catchphrase of a former
>>> barracksmate who retired a few years ago from the U of Chi as Deputy
>>> Dean of Students and Dean of Services.
>>>
>>> That was Ed Turkington, all 6'8" of him, if there are any U of Chi
>>> readers wondering who I mean.
>>
>> Thank you for this follow-up. Although both variants sound fine to me, "yin-yang" is, I think, the one I use and I didn't do a search for "up the ying-yang."
>>
>> Google Books has 1968.
>>
>> "A sense of dark," by William Malliol, Atheneum, page 47, http://ow.ly/6ECoj
>>
>> -----
>> Quillan said, "Boy, hava-yes-sheba-sheba last night up the ying-yang!"
>> -----
>>
>> Benjamin Barrett
>> Seattle, WA

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