BE slang: _fade_ "white person"

[Laurence Horn]

On Jan 21, 2013, at 10:47 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:

> American Slang: 2nd Edition - Page 158
>
> "fade 4 n _black by 1970s_ A white person"
>
> http://goo.gl/b2J8s
>
> Back in the day, during the course of a thread about _ofay_, I OT'ed
> about the use, in addition to "ofay," of _fade_ as a term for "white
> person" in Saint Louis BE, ca. 1950-. By the mid- '60's, I was living
> in Los Angeles. The term was still unknown there. The only person that
> I ever heard use it, a native of L.A., attributed it to me and
> mispronounced it: "A 'fabe,' as *you* would say" or words to that
> effect.
>
Not in HDAS with this meaning, but for the hairstyle < 1989 (cite in Village Voice) but no doubt older.  And now born-again:  See
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2013/01/21/sports/YKNICKS2.html for the Knicks' Iman Shumpert's high-top fade.)

But there's an older entry under _fade_ 1, 'a worthless fellow', with a single cite from 1893.  Probably a coincidence, but…

LH

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