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Re: OT: phat/vet/fat

From:Joe <joe@...>
Date:Saturday, July 13, 2002, 13:30
----- Original Message -----
From: "Tristan McLeay" <kesuari@...>
To: <CONLANG@...>
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2002 6:19 AM
Subject: Re: OT: phat/vet/fat


> On Sat, 2002-07-13 at 22:59, daniel andreasson wrote: > > Roger Mills wrote: > > > > > Mike Karapcik and Steg Belsky both came up with-- > > > > Ebonics/urban slang is not my strong suit, but > > > > from what I know, phat is an acronym for "Pretty Hot > > > > And Tempting". > > > > > I'm somehow inclined to accept that. Even as I wrote > > > suggesting a connection with "emphatic" I was thinking, > > > that's a rather high-flown word to be the source...:-) > > > > Why can't it simply be from "fat", just with a phatter > > spelling? I mean, you can (or rather 'could' :) say "grand" > > in pretty much the same way. The explanation "Pretty Hot > > And Tempting" seems to me to be a back-formation. Something > > like "bitch", which is "Babe In Total Control of Herself". > > You can't say 'grand' in 'pretty much the same way [as you can spell > "phat"]'. That makes no sense at all. > > I assumed, the first time I heard the word I assumed it was some > sarcastic (or perhaps ironic) modification of the word 'fat'. > > Incidentally, I think the only times I've ever heard the word (except > perhaps from on the telly, although I can't remember it if so), it's > been used in stereotypings. So perhaps Australia isn't completely > Americanised just yet. Here's hoping we can delay the invasion for > another decade! :) (Of course, it may be that I just don't live in the > right circles. Which is so entirely probable that it's not funny.) > > EvenLessObNatlang: why does one say 'here's hoping'? >
Well, in some cases, 'here' seems to be a synonym for 'I'. Usually in very bounded circumstances. I think it comes from this logic: I am here, therefore here is I