# Origin of "hip" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [May 5, 2001, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hip/64426 "2001-05-05T06:08:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 3\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![FunnyGuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5e925/32.png) [@FunnyGuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FunnyGuru)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hip/64426/1 "2001-05-05T06:08:35Z")
This reminds me of something the late Steve Allen once wrote about the hipster who encountered a farmer holding a shovel. The hipster asked, “What do you do with that shovel, Mr Farmer?”. The farmer replied, “I dig”. To which the hipster responded, “I’m hip”. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hip/64426/2 "2001-05-05T06:42:09Z")
The moderators very much appreciate a link be included to the column in question. Directions for how to add links are [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/index.php?action=bbcode), and the column in question is [“What’s the origin of ‘hip’?”](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mhip.html) Welcome to the Straight Dope! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 5, 2001, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-hip/64426/3 "2001-05-05T19:54:05Z")
I presume that the topic was supposed to be Origin of “hip” so I fixed it for you. For future reference, if you have “double quotes” in your topic line, and submit your post from the preview window, then vBulletin (the message board software) will eat part of your topic.