From: spike66 (spike66@attbi.com)
Date: Mon Jul 08 2002 - 20:22:07 MDT
Damien Broderick wrote:
>>Hey, the right wingers and libertarian former right-wingers
>>should have a zingy nickname analogous to hippy-dippy.
>>
>
>None of this makes much sense to the non-USian.
>
Dont worry Damien, it doesnt make much sense to a USian either.
>`hippy' means broad-assed, perhaps more plausibly exemplified in Republican
>enclaves like Florida, yes? (Although I'm sure plenty of Democrat black
>mommas in Harlem might be on the hefty side, too.)
>
I have the answer this time, because of my reading of a classic
American novel by the "beat" poet Jack Kerouac, called
"On the Road". In it, Kerouac makes reference to hipsters,
which I believe owes its etymology to the jazz-inspired
"hep-cat", which was shortened in the 40s to "hep". A reference
is in the post-war movie "White Christmas" with Bing Crosby
and Danny Kay. One of the verses in a song about how
dance was being corrupted:
Heps
Who got steps
They aint steppin anymore...
So hep-cat is one who is hep, which became hip. One who
groks became a hipster, which became hippie. No reference
to body parts. spike
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