# An interesting bit of slang history--NOT! **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 27, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903 "2012-03-27T01:17:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/1 "2012-03-27T01:17:56Z")
I was at the Library of Congress last week finishing up research for my next book, seeing four films. One of them–_The Hater of Men_, 1917–had Bessie Barriscale as a girl reporter turned off of marriage by the divorce cases she covered. She breaks up with her nice young fiance, played by John Gilbert (20 years old and looking all of 15, and sporting a cute little comedy moustache). I hope I am not spoiling the film for all of you, but at the end, Bessie rushes back into Jack’s arms, saying (via title, of course): “Oh, Billy, any girl’s a fool to get married–_NOT!_” So that expression was already common enough in 1917 to be used in a movie! I thought that was a kinda neat bit of slang trivia. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/2 "2012-03-27T01:21:43Z")
How about that? I remember when it really took off in the 80’s among my metal head friends. I wonder if it was laying low for decades or died and then was coincidentally revived. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/3 "2012-03-27T01:29:45Z")
It reminds me of the resurgence of “well” as a qualifier in the UK in the 1980s. It became trendy to say things like “I’m well tired”, and is still in use now in the teenies: “you is well nang innit”. I was surprised to find it used in the same way by Bertie in the books of P.G. Wodehouse. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/4 "2012-03-27T01:44:49Z")
Twickster recently [asked](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=646176&highlight=ward) about a seemingly modern expression and somebody posted that it went back to at least as early as Artemus Ward in 1863. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/5 "2012-03-27T01:58:59Z")
NOT! goes back [to least 1893](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not!). I swear I’ve read of its use in Dickens and Twain, but I can’t find any references to that at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/6 "2012-03-27T13:21:07Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > NOT! goes back [to least 1893](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not!). I swear I’ve read of its use in Dickens and Twain, but I can’t find any references to that at the moment. Cool! Though I am disappointed not to have found the earliest cite. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/7 "2012-03-27T13:39:35Z")
Don’t you mean “I am disappointed to have found the earliest cite–NOT!!!” ---
**Author:** ![chrisk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@chrisk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chrisk)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/8 "2012-03-27T13:46:51Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Don’t you mean “I am disappointed to have found the earliest cite–NOT!!!” Well, to me, if Eve said that, it would imply that she found the earliest cite and was excited about it - the negation of ‘NOT!’ would connect to her disappointment. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/9 "2012-03-27T13:53:28Z")
> [@chrisk](#): > > Well, to me, if Eve said that, it would imply that she found the earliest cite and was excited about it - the negation of ‘NOT!’ would connect to her disappointment. > 😉 Umm, yeah. _NOT_. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/10 "2012-03-27T14:23:14Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How about that? I remember when it really took off in the 80’s among my metal head friends. Well, you metal heads always were ahead of the curve. I never heard it at all until the _Wayne’s World_ craze in the early 1990’s. God, it was run into the ground over about six months in 1992. Now it has lain dormant for twenty years . . . and might be fresh again. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2012, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/11 "2012-03-27T23:40:35Z")
> [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](#): > > Don’t you mean “I am disappointed to have found the earliest cite–NOT!!!” She’s saying it like Borat would. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/12 "2012-03-28T14:07:47Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Now it has lain dormant for twenty years . . . and might be fresh again. NOT (or at least NOT YET). ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/13 "2012-03-28T14:19:09Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Well, you metal heads always were ahead of the curve. I never heard it at all until the _Wayne’s World_ craze in the early 1990’s. God, it was run into the ground over about six months in 1992. > > Now it has lain dormant for twenty years . . . and might be fresh again. I wasn’t a metal head. I was a deadhead. The characters in Wayne’s World were supposed to be metal heads and so they talked like them. It was a brilliant spoof. ---
**Author:** ![Hal\_Briston](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a9a28c/32.png) [@Hal\_Briston](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hal_Briston)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2012, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/14 "2012-03-28T19:44:37Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Well, you metal heads always were ahead of the curve. I never heard it at all until the _Wayne’s World_ craze in the early 1990’s. God, it was run into the ground over about six months in 1992. > > Now it has lain dormant for twenty years . . . and might be fresh again. Anthrax got it going in the 80’s, thanks to Scott “Not” Ian… ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/15 "2012-03-30T01:01:25Z")
Ok, this was interesting. Thanks for sharing, and for expounding! ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/16 "2012-03-30T12:04:21Z")
May I humbly present the [not knot](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGLPbSMxSUM)? ---
**Author:** ![Unintentionally\_Blank](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unintentionally_blank/32/5418_2.png) [@Unintentionally\_Blank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Unintentionally_Blank)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/17 "2012-03-30T12:15:59Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > How about that? I remember when it really took off in the 80’s among my metal head friends. I wonder if it was laying low for decades or died and then was coincidentally revived. I predict in the future, when we have more people and less things to research, that Language as a virus studies will _predict these occurrances_, unfortunatley, they’ll be about as successful as that other ‘science’ “meteorology” ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/18 "2012-03-30T13:05:44Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > So that expression was already common enough in 1917 to be used in a movie! No way! ---
**Author:** ![Jenaroph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e8c25b/32.png) [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/19 "2012-03-30T13:44:34Z")
Way! ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/an-interesting-bit-of-slang-history-not/616903/20 "2012-03-30T21:39:19Z")
> [@Eve](#): > > I hope I am not spoiling the film for all of you, but at the end, Bessie rushes back into Jack’s arms, saying (via title, of course): “Oh, Billy, any girl’s a fool to get married–_NOT!_” > . Interesting. Did either character then speculate as to whether monkeys might, in fact, fly out of his or her butt?