We’ve all heard the phrase, “and how,” as in:
*Q: Did you ace the test?
A: Did I ace it? And how!*
Where the heck does “and how” come from?
And is it technically a question? I mean, should it be ended with a question mark?
Not sure how far it goes back, but I know that the exact same expression is used in conversational German. (“Und wie!”) It’s more of an exclamation than a question (in both English and German) so it shouldn’t end in a question mark.
I’m too lazy to look up OED citations–anyone else wanna jump in?
Idioms are weird–they make little sense in one’s native language besides the understood meaning, and they make even less sense when viewed from the perspective of another language…
Fascinating you should bring up the German!!
Lighter says: interj. [trans. of Geman und wie!; not from Yiddish, as sometimes thought] emphatically so; yes, indeed. [This phrase suddenly gained wide currency in the 1920’s. No citations are known between 1865 and 1926.
1865 And how! as the Germans say; Americanice–you’d better believe it. 1926 Variety, “Kongo” is a melodrama–and how!"
I’ll leave the linguistics to those who clearly know what they’re talking about. I just always assumed it meant, like, “And you should have seen the method by which I achieved the aceing of said test, my friend.” Or “You should’ve seen how I did it.”
Or “And how”.
Everybody knows that Spanky of the Little Rascals invented this phrase.
C’mon. Somebody’s got to know the answer to this. Bump.
Homer: But I don’t want to go back to school! I’m not good at learning! Every time I put something new in my head, something else gets pushed out! Remember the time we went to that wine tasting and I forgot how to drive on the way home?
Marge: Homer, you were drunk!
Homer: And how . . .
Paraphrased, of course, so please don’t correct me.
And how! Did you read PublicBlast’s and samclem’s posts? They have answered the questions, nicht wahr?
stuyguy Just in case my cite was too obtuse, the phrase “and how” appears in 1865 in print in English. It seems to have come from the German “und wie!”
Just exactly how it came into English is not explained.
Sometimes I tend to give cites which don’t flop it right in your lap. I’ll try to do better.