英和和英

別の表記

• copasetic, kopacetic, kopasetic

語源

Stephen Goranson says "there is good reason to think that Irving Bacheller invented the word [with the spelling copasetic] for a fictional character with a private vocabulary in his best-selling and later-serialized 1919 book about Abraham Lincoln in Illinois, A Man for the Ages", and its currency increased by use in the 1920 song "At the New Jump Steady Ball" (see quotation below). Alternatively, it has been speculated that it may have originated among African Americans in the Southern US in the late 19th or early 20th century, perhaps specifically in the jargon of Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, who certainly helped popularize it in any case. Many hypotheses about its origin (etymon) exist, all lacking supporting evidence:

発音

• (英国発音) IPA: /kəʊ.pəˈsɛt.ɪk/
• (General American) IPA: /ˌkoʊ.pəˈsɛt.ɪk/

形容詞

copacetic (comparative more copacetic, superlative most copacetic)

1. (US, slang) Fine, excellent, OK, in excellent order.
   • 1919, Irving Bacheller, A Man for the Ages: A Story of the Builders of Democracy‎, New York, N.Y.: Grosset & Dunlap, →OCLC, pages 69 and 287:

     ["] […] an' as to looks I'd call him, as ye might say, real copasetic." Mrs. Lukins expressed this opinion solemnly and with a slight cough. Its last word stood for nothing more than an indefinite depth of meaning. […] There was one other word in her lexicon which was in the nature of a jewel to be used only on special occasions. It was the word "copasetic".

   • 1920, “At the New Jump Steady Ball”, performed by Ethel Waters:

     Extract of lemon and ginger ale / Sweet pertuna with shoe polish, then you're bound for jail / "Copacetic" was the password for one and all / The new Jump Steady ball

   • 1967, “Niki Hoeky”, in Enigma, performed by P. J. Proby:

     Molly-squally, Miss Molly / Yeah, everything copacetic, now

   • 1976, “I Can’t Wait to Get Off Work (and See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue)”, performed by Tom Waits:

     Count the cash, clean the oven, dump the trash, oh your loving is a rare and a copacetic gift.

   • 1987, “West L.A. Fadeaway”, performed by Grateful Dead:

     It’s a shame those boys couldn’t be more copacetic.

   • 2014 July 5, Sam Borden, “For bellicose Brazil, payback carries heavy price: Loss of Neymar [International New York Times version: Brazil and referee share some blame for Neymar's injury: Spaniard's failure to curb early pattern of fouls is seen as major factor (7 July 2014, p. 13)]”, in The New York Times:

     Colombia and Brazil were supposed to be more copacetic.

   • 2018, “Open Letter”, in Tha Carter V, performed by Lil Wayne:

     I keep it real, niggas better keep it copacetic

   • 2019 July 12, David A. Graham, “The Overhyped Feud Between Nancy Pelosi and AOC”, in The Atlantic‎:

     We’re only a few months into the Congress, and there are plenty of opportunities for bigger gulfs to appear; partisans agree on most things most of the time because most votes aren’t on hot-button issues. Nor does it make sense to pretend that everything’s copacetic.

派生語

• copa

参照

• World Wide Words
• Michael Quinion (2004), “Copacetic”, in Ballyhoo, Buckaroo, and Spuds: Ingenious Tales of Words and Their Origins, Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Books in association with Penguin Books, →ISBN.
• “copacetic adj.”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang, Jonathon Green, 2016–present