phat

[fat] Origin

phat

1[fat]
noun
Typesetting. fat (def. 23).

Origin:
by respelling

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Phat is always a great word to know.
So is doohickey. Does it mean:
the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
Dictionary.com Unabridged

phat

2
adjective
Slang. great; wonderful; terrific.

Origin:
1960–65, Americanism; respelling of fat
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
phat (fæt)
 
adj
slang terrific; superb
 
[C20: from Black slang, a corruption of fat]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

phat
hip-hop slang, "great, excellent," 1992, originating perhaps in the late 1980s and meaning at first "sexiness in a woman." The word itself is presumably a variant of fat (q.v.) in one of its slang senses, with the kind of off-beat spelling preferred in street slang (cf. boyz).
EXPAND
The spelling is attested as far back as 1678, as an erroneous form of fat (a classical over-correction; see '-ph-). This spelling is said by some to be an acronym, but various versions are given: "pretty hot and tasty," or "pretty hips and thighs" among them. These, too may have been innovations given as explanations to women who felt insulted by the word.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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Slang Dictionary

phat definition


and PHAT
  1. mod.
    good; excellent. (This is essentially a respelling of fat and can have all the senses that fat has. This is not an acronym, although there are a number of proposed acronymic origins.) : His new car is really phat.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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