Date:    Tue, 9 Jun 1998 10:03:23 -0400
<br>From:    Larry Horn <laurence.horn[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]YALE.EDU>
<br>Subject: Re: "You the man."
<br>
<br>At 7:12 PM -0500 6/8/98, Gerald Cohen wrote:
<br>>
<br>>
<br>>---The expression is given in Clarence Major's _Juba To Jive: A Dictionary
<br>>of African-American Slang_, 1994, although not with the specific meaning
<br>>"Thank you":
<br>>
<br>>       YOU THE MAN (1900-s-1990s) a phrase or response meaning "you're in
<br>>charge," "whatever you
<br>>       say goes," " et cetera.  This expression has changed in the ninety
<br>>years or so that it has been popular
<br>>       in black informal speech.  Originally a woman's line addressed to a
<br>>man, usually her husband or
<br>>       lover, about half the time used ironically.  In the thirties, black
<br>>men used it ironically in addressing
<br>>       white men--and in come cases black men--who happened to be their
<br>>bosses.  In the eighties young
<br>>       black men began using it as an ironic compliment.
<br>>
<br>It has certainly spread (like our earlier street-savvy-wannabe "my bad") in
<br>the last few years to the would-be-hip non-African-American community.
<br>It's a favorite of certain Gen X radio "personalities" and also occurs in a
<br>current commercial for a major business hotel chain (Embassy Suites or one
<br>of that ilk), in each occasion in the form of exchanges between two
<br>typically middle-class white guys along the lines of:
<br>
<br>Youdaman!
<br>No, YOUdaman!
<br>
<br>...sometimes elaborated (as in the practice on an obnoxious late-night
<br>syndicated sports talk show called Ferrell on the Bench) into e.g.
<br>
<br>Youdaman!
<br>How can *I* be the man when *YOU*daman!
<br>
<br>It always seems on these occasions to be pronounced as indicated (except
<br>that the middle vowel is of course a schwa): no pauses, voiced stop or flap
<br>(always [d] rather than [dh]), and heavy stress on initial and/or final
<br>syllable, depending on the discourse context.
<br>
<br>Larry
<br>