Origins
The origins of HRT remain uncertain. Geographically, anecdotal evidence places the conception of the American English variety on the West Coast – anywhere from Southern California to the Pacific Northwest.
With respect to the southern hemisphere, Allan (1990) suggested that the feature may have originated in New Zealand.
It is unclear whether the American English varieties and the Oceanic varieties had any influence on each other regarding the spread of HRT.
One theory is that it arose from the habit of some young people (in Australia, anyway) ending virtually every spoken sentence with:'You know?'. Omit the words but keep the inflection and you have HRT.
It will be apparent that the 'You know?' usage is closely related to other usages devoid of meaning such as the use of 'like', 'whatever' etc. The rapid spread of all of these across the English-speaking world is safely attributed to TV.
Read more about this topic: High Rising Terminal
Famous quotes containing the word origins:
“Lucretius
Sings his great theory of natural origins and of wise conduct; Plato
smiling carves dreams, bright cells
Of incorruptible wax to hive the Greek honey.”
—Robinson Jeffers (1887–1962)
“The origins of clothing are not practical. They are mystical and erotic. The primitive man in the wolf-pelt was not keeping dry; he was saying: “Look what I killed. Aren’t I the best?””
—Katharine Hamnett (b. 1948)
“Grown onto every inch of plate, except
Where the hinges let it move, were living things,
Barnacles, mussels, water weeds—and one
Blue bit of polished glass, glued there by time:
The origins of art.”
—Howard Moss (b. 1922)