And how!

Posted by ESC on May 30, 2000

In Reply to: And how posted by Steve on May 30, 2000

: What is the origin of the phrase "And how"?

"and how! Indicating 'intensive emphasis of what someone else has just said,' 'and how!' is a long-popular catchphrase first recorded in 1924. The Americanism possibly derives from the German 'und wie!' or the Italian 'e come!', meaning the same thing, and once very common among Americans of German and Italian extraction, respectively." From Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).