- For other uses of the term, see Hip (disambiguation).
Hip is a slang term meaning fashionably current.
Hip, like cool, does not refer to one specific quality. What is
considered hip is in constant change. The term hip is said to have originated in African American Vernacular English (AAVE) in the early 1900s, derived from the
earlier form hep. Despite research and speculation by both amateur and professional etymologists, the origins of the term hip and hep are disputed. However, many etymologists
believe that the terms hip, hep and hepcat derive from the west African
Wolof language word hepicat, which means "one who has his eyes open".[1]
An alternative theory traces the word's origins to those who used opium recreationally in the
19th century. Opium smokers commonly consumed the drug lying on their sides (i.e. their hips). Because opium smoking was a
practice of socially-influential trend-setting individuals, the cachet it enjoyed led to the circulation of the term hip
by way of a kind of synecdoche. This theory, however far-fetched, is most certainly disproven
by the fact that the term hep was used until around 1940, when it was replaced in popular culture with the term hip
for no apparent reason other than to make the word current again.
Early currency of the term (as the past participle hipped, meaning informed), is documented in the 1914 novel The
Auction Block by Rex Beach (bolding added):
- "His collection of Napoleana is the finest in this country; he is an authority on French history of that period - in fact,
he's as nearly hipped on the subject as a man of his powers can be considered hipped on anything"[2]
In 1947, Harry "The Hipster" Gibson wrote the song "It Ain't Hep" about the switch from
hep to hip':'
Hey you know there's a lot of talk going around about this hip and hep jive. Lots of people are going around saying "hip."
Lots of squares are coming out with "hep." Well the hipster is here to inform you what the jive is all about.
The jive is hip, don't say hep
That's a slip of the lip, let me give you a tip
Don't you ever say
hep it ain't hip, NO IT AIN'T
It ain't hip to be loud and wrong
Just because you're feeling
strong
You try too hard to make a hit
And every time you do you tip your mitt
It ain't hip
to blow your top
The only thing you say is mop, mop, mop
Keep cool fool, like a fish in the
pool
That's the golden rule at the Hipster school
You find yourself talking too much
Then
you know you're off the track
That's the stuff you got to watch
Everybody wants to get into the
act
It ain't hip to think you're "in there"
Just because of the zooty suit you wear
You
can laugh and shout but you better watch out
Cause you don't know what it's all about, man
Man you
ain't hip if you don't get hip to this hip and hep jive
Now get it now, look out
Man get hip with the
hipster, YEAH! Got to do it!
Footnotes
See also
External links
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