[Ads-l] hip/hep and happenin

James A. Landau JJJRLandau at NETSCAPE.COM
Sun Mar 13 13:01:09 UTC 2016


On Sun, 13 Mar 2016 03:41:05 Zone + 0100 Z Rice <zrice3714 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:

<begin quote> 
<snip> "happenin" in AAV.

Mr. Landau, I would suggest that an ideal place to start in your search 
for the etymology - and for that matter, the proper meaning of the term - is
with the African-American population.
<end quote>

That is exactly what I was doing.  I am unfamiliar with the term "happenin" and the quickest way for me to start a search "with the African-American population" is to post a query on the ADS-L list.  Incidentally, I subscribe to the ADS-L digest and had not seen Gerald Cohen's post when I wrote the post you cited.

You stated "AAV phrases like "a happenin suit"; or "happenin
shoes" which wouldn't make sense otherwise in the english language, but
make complete sense in AAV and definitely in Wolof."

I have no grounds to argue with this assertion.  I wish to point out, however, that you did not explicitly state that "happenin" was derived from "hip/hep" (or maybe vice-versa) and I was asking for more information.  

- Jim Landau


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