"Got your back"?

[Laurence Horn]

On Dec 29, 2011, at 9:25 AM, Tom Zurinskas wrote:

> Headline:  "Need to Run Windows on Your Mac? Parallels Has Got Your Back"
> 
> I suppose "has got your back" means "takes care of you".  New one to me.
> 
> http://chris.pirillo.com/need-to-run-windows-on-your-mac-parallels-has-got-your-back/
> 
> 
It's not new.  The OED has it from 1975:

N. Amer. colloq. (orig. in African-American usage). to get (also have) a person's back : = to watch a person's back.

1975    J. De Jongh Hail, hail, Gangs! (Electronic ed.) 6   Two of them and one of you, but I got your back. Kick both of them in the ass.
1985    Washington Post 29 Mar. e5/3   Don't worry, Coach, I've got your back.

as a variant of 'to watch a person's back':

to watch a person's back : to protect or guard a person against potential attack (sometimes literally from behind); (also) to support or assist a person.

1974    ‘J. le Carré’ Tinker, Tailor xvii. 145   Clear a foreign letter box, prime a safe house, watch someone's back, spike an embassy.

LH

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