Friday, August 31, 2007

And how!!!

Where does the exclamation "and how!" come from?

"and how! Indicating 'intensive emphasis of what someone else has just said,' 'and how!' is a long-popular catchphrase first recorded in 1924. The Americanism possibly derives from the German 'und wie!' or the Italian 'e come!', meaning the same thing, and once very common among Americans of German and Italian extraction, respectively." From "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

Na, und wie! I decided to consult my handy beside copy of the OED and found this:
"d. and how!: excl[amation] used to indicate that the effect of something is difficult to describe = and no mistake, very much so! orig. U.S. [citation] 1865 B. TAYLOR Let. 16 June in M. H. Taylor Life & Lett. Bayard Taylor (1884) II. xviii. 434, I finished an article for the 'Atlantic' that day. As if I were not 'a tool of the elements!' 'And how?' as the Germans say (Americanicé--'You'd better believe it!')...." SS Info above from here.

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