Mad Props

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, this is Julianne from Chicago.

Hi, Julianne, welcome.

Hi, Julianne, welcome.

Hi, I am calling about a slang word, which is one of my favorite parts of the show usually.

Woo-hoo!

And a word that just kind of, I started using and I didn’t realize it until I wrote it in an email to my boss and it made me pause.

Yeah.

But the word is props, and you would use it sort of as respect, or like giving someone congratulations when they told you a cool story.

Or when they finish a difficult task, like, for example, oh, I’ve got to give you props for dealing with that group of screaming kids.

I see. So were you giving your boss props or asking for them?

I was saying that I was commending a fellow co-worker who I thought done a really good job with a project.

Oh, very nice.

And I said, oh, I want to give her mad props for dealing with this crazy situation.

Oh, not just props, but mad props.

Mad props.

Right. You can put mad or crazy in front of it, which somehow means a whole lot.

Yeah, yeah. It’s an emphasizing, right?

Yeah.

Well, this one, props, is at least a couple decades old.

As far as I know, it goes back to the 1970s, and it first popped up in black English and was very common among young people and college students.

And so it’s really interesting as slang because it’s still alive.

It’s not one of those flash-in-the-pan slang terms that just is used for a little while then dies.

This one has got a lot of legs, which means it’s really useful.

And props is short for proper respect.

So if you want to give someone their proper respect, you’re giving them what they do.

And so it probably comes out of the young black male culture of knowing that a lot of getting along with everybody is making sure that you give people the respect that they’re owed, you know, and that you don’t dis or disrespect somebody.

Oh, I’ve got a wreath in my head right now.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, in respect.

Give me my proper.

So a dis is the opposite of props.

Okay, okay.

So proper respect is just a shortening of that.

And you’ll find this these days, you’ll even find it on television and news programs.

You’ll find it in some fairly sophisticated writing.

It is not the most formal of words.

It’s still informal and very slangy.

But it’s incredibly widespread.

And there are many, many people like you who have it in their vocabulary, don’t know how it got there,

And actually don’t even think twice about using it.

Yeah, not at all.

Do you know anything about the

The emphasizes using it?

On mad? Yeah, mad is interesting

Because it kind of behaves as an adjective

Or an adverb depending on what word it’s in front of.

So you can

Say I’m mad happy about that

Or I’m mad cool.

Mad whack.

So it just means very.

It just makes more of whatever comes after it.

Just as a modifier.

That’s so interesting. I had no idea it was that old.

Yeah, yeah. It’s cool, right?

Well, not that the 70s are that old, but yeah.

Well, how old are you, Julianne?

How old are you, Julianne?

No, like this generation of college.

I’m only, I’m 22.

Okay, there we go.

Yeah, see, that’s great.

That’s fantastic.

This word is older than you are.

Yeah.

Don’t rub it in.

Hey, Julianne, mad props for calling.

Yeah.

Thanks, thanks.

Cheers.

Take care.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Well, slang is hella cool.

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Or send your mad slang to words@waywordradio.org.