Date: Wed, 8 Jan 1997 09:13:05 -0500

From: Jesse T Sheidlower jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]PANIX.COM

Subject: Re: hoopty/hooptie





Anybody heard the term _hoopty/ie_ for a old, barely-running car? What a

lot of us used to call a "heap"?

The term _hoopty_ is apparently a Chicago-area street term, attested to by

my 6th grader. I'm curious as to whether it might be etymologically

related to _heap_.



_Hoopty_ seems to have originated in California; I have several cites

from around 1970 there. It has appeared in a number of rap songs in

recent years, notably "My Hoopty" by "Sir Mix-a-Lot" in 1990. DARE

has an entry for "hoopy" in the same sense, identified as "esp. Texas"

with cites from the 1966-70 DARE survey onward.



Both terms are of unknown origin.



Jesse Sheidlower

Random House Reference

jester[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]panix.com