[Ads-l] Antedating of "Booty Call"

[ADSGarson O'Toole]

Interesting topic, Fred. YouTube has a clip from Def Comedy Jam hosted
by Martin Lawrence. No date is specified. Lawrence introduced Bill
Bellamy, stating that Bellamy was returning after an earlier
performance. This clip included the line mentioned by Ralph Keyes and
Fred. However, Bellamy also mentioned "booty call" earlier in his
routine. When Bellamy initially used the phrase it sounded like he
expected the audience to recognize it. Yet, Bellamy might have
expected the audience to simply infer its meaning.

Bellamy referred to the Mike Tyson court case which took place in 1992.

Website: YouTube
Title: Bill Belamy on Def Jam
Poster: redx2403
Date: Jul 27, 2009
Timestamp 1:15 of 6:25

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AAKXF7lX138

[Begin excerpt]
Right, let's analyze the case. Mike Tyson calls the honey from the
hotel room - 2 o'clock in the morning. Is that or is that not a booty
call? Can you help me?
[End excerpt]

This YouTube video also has the line "Every brother in here done made
a booty call" at 2:14 of 6:25.

On Sun, Jun 28, 2026 at 12:49 PM Shapiro, Fred
<00001ac016895344-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:
>
> booty call (OED 1993)
>
> According to Ralph Keyes's excellent book The Hidden History of Coined Words, "This harks back to a routine [comedian Bill] Bellany first performed a quarter century ago in which he riffed at length about the late-night telephone calls black men commonly make to women whom they expect to be available for sex on short notice.  'Every brother in here done made a booty call,' said Bellamy in this 1992 sketch, one that subsequently became part of an HBO special."
>
> Fred Shapiro
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org