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
>