# U.S. Dialect survey: "kipe" or "kype" **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 11, 2005, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658 "2005-02-11T22:03:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Mr.Accident](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Mr.Accident](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Accident)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/61 "2010-09-23T09:14:14Z")
a.) Nope. b.) Ga c.) 29 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/62 "2010-09-23T10:54:24Z")
No. Northern Virginia and Ohio. 66 The word is alternately spelled _kipe, kype, and kife_. My best slang dictionary shows it showing up in the 1930s. Definitely US. It doesn’t suggest and orgin, and gives the definition at _pilfer, steal_. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/63 "2010-09-23T13:18:42Z")
I’ve only heard it in a game or show that tried to use dialect. And I only remembered that after I looked up what it meant. It appears that kipe is the more common spelling, BTW. Kype gets stuff about skype on Google. Northern Arkansas, Age 25 ---
**Author:** ![Crotalus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crotalus/32/41_2.png) [@Crotalus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crotalus)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/64 "2010-09-23T13:20:05Z")
1. No 2. Baltimore 3. 56 ---
**Author:** ![pyromyte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d26b3c/32.png) [@pyromyte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pyromyte)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/65 "2010-09-23T13:53:05Z")
A. no, never heard of it until now. B. moved a lot when i was a kid (KY, PA, CA, TN, OH, FL). C. 30 My younger brother in-law uses the term “gank.” ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/66 "2010-09-23T16:11:11Z")
1. No 2. New York (just south of racinchikki) 3. 42 ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/67 "2010-09-23T16:19:33Z")
Hmm. This survey was dormant for five years? Oh well. 1. No 2. Suburban Chicago, then Suburban Atlanta 3. 41 ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/68 "2010-09-23T16:25:24Z")
A) No. B) UK/Florida C) 28 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/69 "2010-09-23T16:31:22Z")
A) No. B) West Texas. C) In my 50s. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/70 "2010-09-23T16:33:35Z")
> [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > a) Yes, meaning petty thief/unauthorized borrowing > b) Growing up in Minnesota > c) 38 All the above but add five years to the age. ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/71 "2010-09-23T16:43:04Z")
> [@Dangerosa](#): > > > [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](#): > > > > a) Yes, meaning petty thief/unauthorized borrowing > > b) Growing up in Minnesota > > c) 38 > > All the above but add five years to the age. Ditto, but only add three years to the age 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/72 "2010-09-23T17:08:01Z")
A) Yes, meaning shoplifting. I heard it from my juvenile delinquent classmates in Jr. High. B) 52 C) So Cal. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/73 "2010-09-23T17:53:24Z")
1.) Never heard “kipe” or “kife” or any variation thereof until this thread. (“Cop” I’ve heard, but I think that’s pretty common) 2.) Northeast US (NJ, NY, MA) and Utah 3.)54 ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/74 "2010-09-23T18:08:33Z")
Male, 48, lived all over the United States (west, northwest, midwest, southeast, mid-Atlantic) and never heard this word used. Granted I was pretty young when I lived in the West. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/75 "2010-09-23T18:49:27Z")
> [@MissTake](#): > > > [@Dangerosa](#): > > > > All the above but add five years to the age. > > Ditto, but only add three years to the age 😃 Rub it in, go ahead, its only a little salt… ---
**Author:** ![Duke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e8c25b/32.png) [@Duke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duke)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/76 "2010-09-23T19:12:55Z")
1. We used “kife” all the time (and, amusingly, “procure” as a synonym for “steal”) 2. Central PA 3. 37 ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/77 "2010-09-23T20:15:34Z")
Yes. Columbus, Ohio (but it wasn’t common there). I’ll just say “early middle age”. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/78 "2010-09-23T20:16:09Z")
1. No 2. Massachusetts 3. 41 ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/79 "2010-09-23T20:51:30Z")
No Alabama 38 I strongly suspect, however, that it is a variant of “kite” (as has been mentioned), in its criminal sense. ---
**Author:** ![LawMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@LawMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LawMonkey)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658/80 "2010-09-23T20:58:19Z")
1. Nope. 2. SW Ohio 3. 31 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/u-s-dialect-survey-kipe-or-kype/289658.md?page=5)