[Ads-l] Antedating of "uh-huh"

Andy Bach afbach at GMAIL.COM
Fri Nov 16 17:38:16 UTC 2018


> In Nigeria in the Peace Corps in 1963 we had to learn that "eh heh" (low
tone-high tone) meant "no" and " en" (low tone nasalized) meant "yes".

In the Philippines, er, in Tagalog, "OO" ("oh oh" flat tone) means "yes".

On Fri, Nov 16, 2018 at 11:06 AM Herb Stahlke <hfwstahlke at gmail.com> wrote:

> In Nigeria in the Peace Corps in 1963 we had to learn that "eh heh" (low
> tone-high tone) meant "no" and " en" (low tone nasalized) meant "yes".
>
> On Sat, Nov 10, 2018 at 5:01 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > And check this out. (OED has "uh-uh" only as 'no.')
> >
> > 1888 _Idaho Daily Statesman_ (Boise) (May 1) 1: After four days of
> > alternate hope and fear we held a hand in hers, looked into her gentle
> > eyes, and asken [sic], "is there hope?" "Uh, uh," said she, putting the
> > accent on the last word; and then we fell into her arms insensible.
> >
> > One suspects that people have been grunting for 'yes' and 'no' since cave
> > days.  But the grunts only became lexicalized (for writers) in the 19th
> > century.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Fri, Oct 25, 2013 at 7:08 AM Hugo <hugovk at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster:       Hugo <hugovk at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject:      Antedating of "uh-huh"
> > >
> > >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> > >
> > > "uh-huh" (OED: 1924)
> > >
> > > 1858:
> > >
> > > [Begin]
> > > "Her name is Peggy ?"
> > >
> > > "Uh, huh."
> > > [End]
> > >
> > > White Cloud Kansas chief. (White Cloud, Kan.), 23 Sept. 1858.
> Chronicling
> > > America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress. <
> > >
> http://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov/lccn/sn82015486/1858-09-23/ed-1/seq-1/
> > >
> > >
> > > Hugo
> > >
> > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
> >
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> >
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 

a

Andy Bach,
afbach at gmail.com
608 658-1890 cell
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