It was my parents 45th anniversary this past week-end. Naturally, we celebrated. We ended up at an over rated, over priced restaurant everyone rants and raves about. No pasta dish is worth $17. I hope Italian bloggers Man of Roma or Rob at Wind Rose Hotel can back me up on this.
I digressed with that digestive tidbit.
During our meal, some folks nearby were celebrating a birthday or a birth or something. I don't know. I didn't particularly pay close attention. What did garner my attention were the shouts of "Hip, Hip Hooray!"As I bit down on my rigatoni primavera, I thought to myself, what on earth does that mean anyway?
So I looked it up.
Apparently, the possible origins of "Hip, hip hooray" can be found partly in Medieval times; during the Crusades to be exact. The popular phrase may refer to the Latin term "Hierosylma Est Perdita" or "Jerusalem is lost."I also found references connected to this phrase with 19th century pogroms in Germany called the Hep Hep Riots. Germans who sought Jews and their properties to destroy would cry out, "Hep, hep!" So I'm guessing it must have merged into Hep, Hep, Hierosylma which somehow became "Hurray"at some point.
My Hip-hip travels led me to this passage about the impact of pogroms on Jews at Mondoweiss:
"Freud's father had absorbed the lesson of the Hep-Hep Riots, pogroms aimed at Jews; the "ritual" when a Jew met a non-Jew, Gilman said, was that the Jew was to step off the wooden boardwalk "into the street," which was filled with the leavings of horses. "The Jew stands in the shit while the non-Jew goes by," Gilman thundered in fresh outrage."Just to make it even more interesting. Cab Calloway had an album called "Are you hep to the jive" which obviously was another way of saying "hip." Funny how words get used and reused over time.
Anyhow, according to other sources Hip-hip may have been used by German shepherds. Which would make the term a lot less violent. It may as well given we chant it at birthday parties.
And now you'll never think of "Hip, hip hooray" the same way again.
That reinforces the idea that languages (and minds) are chaotic museums worth to be explored.
ReplyDeleteNo pasta dish can be worth 17$ (1$-3$?). But I guess one has to pay for the place and the milieu as well.
I go to a local place here and she prepares me a fresh plate of pasta for $8 flat. No frills or nonsense.
ReplyDeleteYes, you pay for the decor and the milieu. Which I care little for. For $17 it better darn well be magnificent. The average is in the 10-13 range I surmise.
That doesn't mean I haven't paid that high and not eat well. In New York I went to a restaurant owned by a popular Chef on the Foodnetwork. The establishment charged $20 US for orecchiette with rapini and sausage. It was absolutely amazing. I had no problem pulling out the cash for that.
Ah, orecchiette con le cime di rape. One of my favourite dishes (it's from Apulia btw, as I'm sure you know). On Maryann's weblog there is a yummy recipe for that. She has origins from Apulia.
ReplyDeleteI'll pass you the link:
http://findingladolcevita.blogspot.com/2008/10/orecchiette-con-cime-di-rapa.html
Ciao
I didn't know it was from Apulia!
ReplyDeleteThanks for the link. Will visit.