Just kidding

Posted by ESC on January 31, 2009 at 21:56

In Reply to: Just kidding posted by Nathan on January 31, 2009 at 18:43:

: Where does the word 'kidding' or phrase 'just kidding' originate?

Kid - to hoax in English by 1811; a hoax or instance of joshing (teasing) by 1873; kidder, 1896. To kid or lie to oneself, not face facts, 1860. To kid along, an American expression, 1920. It comes from kid meaning child or young goat, so to kid someone is to make a child or goat of that person. From Listening to America: An Illustrated History of Words and Phrases from Our Lively and Splendid Past by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982). Page 85.

Kid - young goat, probably before 1200. Extended use meaning child, slang use 1599, established informal use, 1841. To tease playfully or joke, 1839. Earlier in thieves' slang, to coax, wheedle, hoax or humbug, 1811. From "Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology" by Robert K. Barnhart (HarperCollins Publishers, New York, 1995). Page 412.