Date:  Tue, 4 Nov 1997 07:54:05 -0600
From:  Mary Bucholtz <bucholtz[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]TAMU.EDU>
Subject: Re: "it's all good"

Margaret Lee's explanation that "it's all good" originated in hip hop is
the most likely one. Certainly when I was doing fieldwork in a California
high school two years ago the kids who used it were those who were into
hip-hop culture. Also, "A2Z: The Book of Rap and Hip-Hop Slang" includes
the expression; unfortunately, no cites are provided. A likely place to
start looking is the hip-hop magazine "The Source," based in New York.

Mary Bucholtz
Texas A&M University
bucholtz[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]tamu.edu

>At 07:01 PM 11/3/97 "Margaret G. Lee -English" <mlee[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]cs.hamptonu.edu> wrote:
>>Exactly what are "authentic-sounding vernacular locutions"? Who or what
>>determines authenticity? While no one has a monopoly on linguistic
>>innovation, the linguistic contributions of African-Americans cannot be
>>overlooked.
>>
>
>I was responding to a rather impassioned and I thought, as a general idea,
>perhaps well-taken protest against the occasional tendency to assume that
>any new slang not otherwise identifiable is AAVE. Linguistic innovation
>happens in lots of ways, he seemed to be implying, and I thought I agreed. I
>hope no-one on the list would overlook *any* kinds of contributions to
>linguistic innovation, but the person to whom I was responding felt that
>there was maybe a reflexive attitude at times about linguistic innovations
>and AAVE. Maybe you'd quote his post and address his points if you disagree
>with him; I can forward you a copy, if you like.
>
>You mentioned in your last post in this thread that, "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." I think tracking the phrase to ground wherever that
>leads is the point of the exercise, and if you know for sure where and how
>it originated, post the citations and the thread will naturally close.
>
>Greg Downing/NYU, at greg.downing[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]nyu.edu or downingg[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]is2.nyu.edu