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What is the source/history of the word “Kype”?

Last night, I used the word “kype” in a sentence, as in “John kyped a cookie from the tray”. A person who heard me was offended believing it is the same as the anti-Semitic “kyke”. (FYI, a “Kype” is a minor theft, it can also be used as a verb, as in the sentence above.)

I am not trying to justify my use of the word, and given the similarity of the two words, and Jewish stereotypes, I can believe the word is derogatory. However, this morning I decided to find out for sure. When I searched online (google and other search engines, several online dictionaries, Wikipedia) I could not find any information about the possible source. And, the only dictionary that even listed the word was the ‘urban dictionary’.

Does anyone have good information about the word “kype” and can confirm if it is or is not derogatory .

Top 1 Answers
Jason T

Favorite Answer

“You’re absolutely correct, however, to wonder about the legitimacy of “kipe,” because it seems to be a word that now teeters on the brink of extinction. According to the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), “kipe” or “kype” is found mostly in the western U.S., especially the Pacific Northwest, with some scattered usage in the Plains, Midwest and mid-Atlantic states. To judge by a discussion of the term on the American Dialect Society mailing list a few years ago, the variant form “kife” seems more common in the eastern states. To “kipe” (also spelled “kype” and “kipp”) means “to steal or pilfer,” with the same general sense as “swipe” of casually snatching something of small value (as opposed to robbing a bank, for instance). A citation in DARE from the Saturday Evening Post in 1968 gives a good sense of “kipe”: “This typical teen-age shoplifter will brag to her friends about what she has “bagged,” “hocked,” “kyped” or “snitched,” using the particular word that is common to the vernacular of her region.” An indication of the fading use of “kipe” is that the later citations in DARE largely come from sources talking about using the word in their childhoods, not today.

The derivation of “kipe” is, as so often the case with slang terms, uncertain, but it may well have arisen as a modification of the now-obsolete English verb “to kip,” meaning to take hold of or to snatch.” This “kip,” which first appeared in English around 1250, was based on the Old Norse verb “kippa,” meaning “to snatch, tug or pull.”

5

7 years ago
metbullrider
It is an middle English term pronounced keep . The meaning was a fortified tower within castle walls when the castle would get overrun the nobles or barons or lords and there wives or children would hold up in the kype or keep the term is very seldom used today. Unless your at west point or reading about ancient battles and history there of . Look it up in the middle English dictionary
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5 years ago
Anonymous
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