More about bachata

• Bachata was first recorded in English around 1955–60.
• Bachata comes from Caribbean Spanish, and it originally meant “party” or “celebration.”
• Bachata in Spanish may have come from an African language, but it is uncertain.
• Bachata, the music, originated in the early 1920s in the Dominican Republic from Cuban and African rhythms.

EXAMPLES OF BACHATA

• The sultry melodies of bachata filled the air, enticing couples to sway and dance to the rhythm.
• As the guitar strings resonated, the singer’s heartfelt voice carried the emotions of the bachata song to everyone in the room.

More about receipts

Receipts, in the phrase show me the receipts, as evidenced in jarrett hill and Tre’vell Anderson’s new book, Historically Black Phrases, out now from Ten Speed Press from Penguin Random House:

PRONUNCIATION

Phonetic.

TRANSLATION

“Where is the proof?”

USAGE

A defiant dare meant to encourage the spoken-to to prove their allegation. If the speaker is the person implicated in said allegation, they likely believe there is no verifiable proof and therefore are willing to stick their neck out to boldly demand proof.

EXAMPLE

When Tia and Tamera said they’d gone to finish their homework with Roger after school, Lisa wasn’t buying it. “Show me some receipts,” she said, waiting for this allegedly completed homework to come out of their backpacks.

ORIGIN OF RECEIPTS

• Receipts originated in Black English and spread to the mainstream most likely in 2002, when singer Whitney Houston demanded proof of an accusation in an interview by saying, “I want to see the receipts.”
• The phrase morphed into show me the receipts in the late 2000s, and was used more generally in the context of celebrity scandals and gossip.
• The singular noun receipt was first recorded in 1350–1400 from Middle English receite, which came either from Old French recete or directly from Medieval Latin recepta “money received, receipt, recipe,” from Latin recipere “to receive.”

More about selcouth

• Selcouth is an archaic word that appeared in English before 900.
• Selcouth comes from the Old English word seldcūth, which means “seldom couth.”
• The couth part derives from an older meaning of couth, “known or acquainted with.”
• Literally, selcouth means “seldom known.”

EXAMPLES OF SELCOUTH

• It was very selcouth and unsettling to see the empty streets that night.
• Her voice had a selcouth lilt to it that indicated she might not feel comfortable.