I’ve heard the term “props” kicked around a lot recently, mostly by that wanna-be rocker Kid Rock. He talks a lot about giving “props to the fallen” (BTW, I guess that includes the dead little guy Joe C. now doesn’t it?)
And last week the local zany-morning-radio guys said something about giving somebody the “props they deserve.”
So my question is, what exactly are we handing out?
Is it an abbreviation? Of what? Maybe “proper” as in give somebody the proper respect? Movie props? (Hey, give that guy a fake light saber).
Help this old timer out, what exactly are you young people talking about these days dang-nabbit!
An object placed beneath or against a structure to keep it from falling or shaking; a support.
One that serves as a support or stay: my children, my props in old age.
1.) Dopers are smart people. however, blind spots do exist. I have identified Black English as one such trouble area. 62 views at last count and blessedwolf is the only one with a proper answer. Hint: the dictionary will probably not help you.
hope this doesn’t sound mean. it just reminds me a little too much of the scene in * Office Space * where Michael Bolton says something like, “we’re such big nerds that we’re looking up money laundering in the dictionary!”
2.) the fact that some people’s exposure to Black English is through the mouthpiece of Kid Rock keeps me awake at night.
Yeesh. Of course Blessedwolf is right. Whoever thought I could come to the Straight Dope Message Boards and see a question I could answer off the top of my head?
FYI, pcubed: “props” is a slang term dating back to at least the mid-70’s, if not earlier, gaining much much wider usage in the 80s and 90s (“Give me my props!”), mostly in East Coast hip-hop terminology. It’s use today is somewhat passe, although hoodrats haven’t come up with a variation yet. I mean, I can work something similar into a phrase using “represent” (i.e., “You niggas here to represent, or what?”) but the implication that someone owes me respect for my excellence is lost.
Thanks for all of the help. I wasn’t aware of the word’s long history. Growing up in New Hampshire didn’t expose me to a lot of proto-hip-hop slang (During the '92 election, Chris Rock was a correspondant for Politically Incorrect. He did a spot from my hometown, Manchester, and lamented about the difficulty in finding AfroSheen).
Anyhow, I’ve noticed that the word has been hijacked by a lot of annoying people lately (mostly white radio types, last night one talked about giving the Rolling Stones the props they deserved) and was just wondering if these people had a clue what they were talking about.
