The Etymological Hour: "How's Tricks?"
Nate used this phrase in an email recently, and I've since heard it several more times over the past few months. Is it making a resurgence?In case you don't know, the relatively rare phrase essentially means the same as "How's it going?"
An exchange might go something like this...
Nate: Yo Ben, I ain't heard from ya in weeks! How's tricks?
Ben: Not bad, dude. Wowzerz, that bling yr sportin' is RADiculous!But the etymology of the phrase is interesting, and a bit mysterious...
According to the Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English, the phrase derives from either the nautical meaning of 'trick' ('turn of duty') or the card game 'trick'.
But from its early days, the phrase was considered crude, as evidenced by this 1924 reference: "'Well, Mrs. H., how's tricks?' His wife flushed slightly at the vulgarity of the phrase." Usage became prevalent in the 1930s, especially among pimps who'd ask the prostitutes in their employ how business was going ('turning tricks'), but the phrase was soon adopted by all the cool kids with greased-back hair and leather jackets...
So, the exchange might go more like this:
Ben: Nice gold lamé miniskirt and bowtie! How's tricks?
Nate: Not good, Ben, not good at all...the market for hairy gold-lamé-wearing hookers has seemingly dried up in Wisconsin!
Or, the phrase may have more benign origins... from The Maven's Word of the Day:"But I'm not convinced that's the whole story on trick. The noun form of the Latin verb tricari is tricae, meaning 'trifles, toys.' From at least the mid-16th century we have trick referring to 'a trinket, bauble, knick-knack.' Farmer's A Dictionary of Slang, published in 1890, lists as current "Western American" slang a sense of trick meaning 'belongings, things, baggage.' For a phrase that is equivalent to "How's things?," it's not too far-fetched to think that it may have been influenced by this sense."
But the sexual connotation has outlived all others, making 'How's tricks?' a fun way to both show an interest in how someone is doing and mildly insult them at the same time!
And, by the way, did I just coin the word 'RADiculous'?!
Comments
I understand you are just explaining what you found from other sources, but I disagree with the sexual innuendo connotation part.
The 'proper' (whatever) usage: "Hi Jane, how's Trix?" , and it was the "Hey Jane, wassup?" of the 50's and 60's.
It all goes back to the game of Bridge. In the game of contract bridge you bid that you'll win a certain number of tricks each round. Taking a trick is playing the highest value card of the four played that turn. So, asking "How's tricks" is asking... "how's it going?"
The use of the phrase rose at the same time as bridge did. Bridge was most popular in the 30s and 40s and that was the height of the use of the phrase as well. As the popularity of Bridge declined, so did the use of the phrase. Though in recent years it's been gaining in use again.
My assumption in how it got linked to prostitution was card playing pimps. A girl was expected to have a certain number of customers a night (the bid) and those were the tricks. If you didn't make your book for the night, you lost the round... no waffles for you.
Anyway... the use of the phrase "how"s tricks" is not a vulgar phrase, nor is it lewd. You may here it mentioned in old descriptions as vulgar, but you have to remember that word has changed as well. "vulgar at that time meant "common" more so than the "lewd, profane" that many consider its primary definition now. All slang was vulgar.
Ngrams shows it's use peaked in 1940, but has been creeping back up since the low point in the 60s. How's trix is not really used that much in comparison.
Personally, I remember it as being spelled with an 'x' and having connotations of prostitution, though I don't remember where I first heard it.
'vulgar' to 'common' to 'slang'.
Here's the 1910s elucation exercise:
I'm afraid to look my dolly in the eyes/For I've told her such an awful lot of lies/ And if she only knew/Who knows what she would do?/I'm afraid to look my dolly in the eyes.
Incidentally, Vulgar is derived from the latin vulgaris. Common species (common at the time of their discovery!) often have vulgaris as part of their latin name.
https://www.discogs.com/George-Shearing-Quintet-Hows-Trix-Strolling/release/7771607
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfYAO9JZDVo
As far as the sexual connotation is concerned, that's in the eye of the beholder. Some folks, understandably, might interpret the phrase such that it feels sexually related, regardless of the originator's intent. Personally, it always made me think of prostitutes when it was used, so it's not that much of a stretch for some to think it's an inquiry such as "how's your love life?"
The debate is fun, though. I'm no closer to understanding the true etymology of the phrase, but between the article, which is very well written, and the comments, I know a lot more about it than I did before. Maybe one day the time machine will finally get invented and we can go back and track down the true origins of the word.
This reflects the writer's lack of knowledge of both the Honeymooners and Ed Norton's style of humor. Trixie was Norton's wife, not Ralph's; Alice was married to Ralph. And it was obvious to the most casual observer that Norton would jokingly say "How's tricks" as a play on the usual greeting (which had already been in common usage for a couple of decades) and his wife's name.
Early cinema may have reflected popular usage but sometimes promoted an idea of "proper" standards. Postwar cinema and TV has promoted "cool" phrases and vulgar ones. Phrases I did not hear as a child and that I think were unacceptable to many of the prewar generation have become commonplace.