Talk:Heebie-jeebies

Anti-Semitic?

Any etymological evidence of anti-semitism?

I actually came onto this page to check the same thing! Upon searching, it seems like it's not actually anti-semitic in origin. c.f. http://www.word-detective.com/back-k2.html. Adking80 15:56, 31 July 2006 (UTC)[reply]

"heebie-jeebies" may not be a free invention, since we have got in German a similar word "hibbelig". American say "That gives me the heebie-jeebies", German say "Das macht mich hibbelig", with exactly the same meaning. 178.19.224.254 (talk) 14:07, 5 November 2010 (UTC)[reply]

The word was coined by cartoonist Billy DeBeck in October, 1923 in his cartoon Barney Google and Snuffy Smith (one of the most popular cartoon strips of the time), and used it several times in subsequent strips. Because of the popularity of the comic strip, the word got picked it, made it into news articles, and a Louis Armstrong song. This is briefly referenced in the Barney Google wiki article's Legacy section which mention a few of DeBeck's other coinages.

More references:

•http://www.slate.com/blogs/lexicon_valley/2015/08/07/heebie_jeebies_a_word_coined_by_cartoonist_billy_debeck_became_a_dance_craze.html which is an excerpt from the book Louis Armstrong, Master of Modernism by Thomas Brothers, 2014

• The origin of "heebie-jeebies" is discussed as a podcast in Slate's Lexicon Valley episode 65 with Ben Zimmer, Bob Garfield, and Mike Vuolo http://www.slate.com/articles/podcasts/lexicon_valley/2015/07/lexicon_valley_mystery_word_or_phrase_with_lexicographer_ben_zimmer.html This last references goes through some of the history of its origin, how it got popular, and some of its legacy.

• Relatedly, Ben Zimmer also discusses its origin, history, and legacy in How Did We Get the "Heebie-Jeebies"? The tale of a comic-strip race horse, Louis Armstrong, and a jittery dance, 2015-07-29 http://www.vocabulary.com/articles/wordroutes/how-did-we-get-the-heebie-jeebies/

— al-Shimoni (talk) 08:43, 11 August 2015 (UTC)[reply]

As far as I can tell, there is NO evidence of anti-Semitism in the origin of "heebie-jeebies", nor are there any anti-Semitic connotations now. First, I checked Wiktionary - heebie-jeebies including the etymology section; no reference to anti-Semitic connotations. Next, I found an accepted Wiktionary source for its entry about heebie-jeebies

"The phrase "heebie-jeebies" was invented by Billy De Beck, a famous American comic strip artist of the 1920's, in his popular "Barney Google" strip in 1923... "Heebie-jeebies" must have caught the popular imagination immediately, since the dance of that name appeared a scant three years later, in 1926. The invention of "heebie-jeebies" by De Beck was, without doubt, innocent of any racial or ethnic animosity."

This confirms what al-Shimoni stated.--FeralOink (talk) 22:31, 3 May 2023 (UTC)[reply]