Date: Mon, 3 Nov 1997 18:27:01 -0500

From: "Margaret G. Lee -English" mlee[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]CS.HAMPTONU.EDU

Subject: Re: "it's all good"



As with much slang that eventually enters mainstream usage, "It's all

good" originated in the African American community about four years ago,

essentially a product of hip-hop/rap culture. That and "my bad,"

"dis," hood," "git-go," "squat," and many other expressions underscore the

long rich tradition of the linguistic creativity of African Americans.



Margaret Lee

Hampton University



On Sat, 1 Nov 1997, Tom Head

wrote:



Date: Sat, 1 Nov 1997 22:21:01 -0600

From: Tom Head tlh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]NETDOOR.COM

To: ADS-L[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]UGA.CC.UGA.EDU

Subject: "it's all good"



Does anyone know where the phrase "it's all good" came from? I've heard

it used a lot in grunge culture and have seen it gradually make its way to

mainstream youth slang (almost exclusively in males, in my experience).

I'd be just about ready to bet that this phrase actually originated in the

jazz era, but I have no proof.



The phrase is used to shrug off an apology for a minor inconvenience (ex:

"Sorry I spilled your drink." "Hey, don't worry, man, it's all good.").



Tom Head

tlh[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]netdoor.com

http://www2.netdoor.com/~tlh



"The first duty in life is to be as artificial as possible.

What the second duty is, no one has yet discovered."

-- Oscar Wilde