[Ads-l] Antedating of "Hep"

[Shapiro, Fred]

hep (OED 1899)

1897 St, Louis Post-Dispatch 12 Sept. 20/5 (Newspapers.com)  Following is the Thieves' Dictionary, compiled by "Sleepy" Burk, ex-convict, and published in his new paper, "The National X-Ray." ... Hep — To understand.

NOTE:  Strictly speaking, the Thieves' Dictionary is defining "hep" as a verb.  However, I think it is clear that Burk plays loosely with parts of speech.  For example, he defines "framed" as "a thorough understanding."  Presumably he views "hep" as an adjective.  The following definitions show the part-of-speech looseness and confirm that he is using "hep" in its modern sense of "knowing":

Joseph — Hep or next.
Next — To know.

I have no idea about the logic behind "Joseph" or "next" as slang terms.

Fred Shapiro

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