Re: OT: phat/vet/fat

----- 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