End of ADS-L Digest - 19 Dec 1997 to 20 Dec 1997
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Subject: ADS-L Digest - 20 Dec 1997 to 21 Dec 1997

There are 3 messages totalling 74 lines in this issue.

Topics of the day:

 1. "wig out"
 2. Chicagoland
 3. un-subscribe

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Date:  Sun, 21 Dec 1997 12:31:50 -0500
From:  Gerald Cohen <gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UMR.EDU>
Subject: Re: "wig out"

  On l2/18/97 David Bergdahl asked about to "wig out," adding: "I've met
the term in novels by AA authors written in the 70's and early 80's. I
don't know if it's still current."

  Information on this topic can be found in Clarence Major's _Juba to
Jive: A Dictionary of African-American Slang_ (Viking Pr., 1994):

   "WIG, n. (1930s-1960s) a man or woman's natural hair that has been
processed or straightened; one's mentality, brain, skull, thoughts.

   WIG, n. (1930s-1950s) in the jazz world, a highly respected musician,
respected because he or she 'wigs' people out--reaching them on a mental
level and causing reflection, rather than exciting them to dance.

   WIG [ONE] OUT; WIGGED [ONE] OUT (1950s-1960s) in jazz, to excite or
thrill; respond with great enthusiasm; used also in the same way in street
culture--to delight, etc. Example: 'Man, Bags [Milt Jackson] really wigs me
out when he starts tapping that vibraphone like he's making tender love to
it.'

   WIGGED OUT, adj. (1950s-1960s) to be extremely high on narcotics.

   WIGGING, v. (1940S-1950s) in jazz, playing unusually innovative
music; talking strangely or doing something considered 'weird.'"

  ----Meanwhile, Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow's autobiography _Really the Blues_
(co-authored with Bernard Wolfe; 1946) presents in its glossary:

  "WIG - head or hair
   WIG TRIG - idea"

--Gerald Cohen

gcohen[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]umr.edu