[Ads-l] "are you hept?"

[Stephen Goranson]

Laurence Horn wrote a response:

> On Feb 7, 2020, at 8:22 AM, Stephen Goranson <goranson at DUKE.EDU<http://listserv.linguistlist.org/mailman/listinfo/ads-l>> wrote:
>
> PS Can, say, a verb in US slang produce an adjective?
> An offer you can choose to refuse: "a made man.”

Not quite a parallel case, since “made” is a participial adjective.
If there were evidence for someone being called “hepped” or “he'ped”
or even “hept” in the relevant (‘au courant')
sense the parallel would be stronger.

LH

OK, LH, not far to seek, in OED:

hepped, adj.  ...
Originally (in sense 1) perhaps a variant of hep. adj....
slang (originally US)
[sense 1] aware of, in the know...
1909...One thief may say to his pal "are you hept?"....

Stephen Goranson



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