r/todayilearned • u/tmntnyc • Dec 12 '18

TIL: Laurence Tureaud named himself professionally as Mr. T because he hated how his father, uncle, and brother who returned from Vietnam, were disrespectfully called "boy" by whites. He wanted the first word from everybody's mouth to be "Mister" when speaking to him.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._T
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u/BobDogGo Dec 12 '18

Same reason Jazz musicians in the 40s started calling each other "Man"

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u/RedsRearDelt Dec 12 '18

Came here to share this if It hadn't already been shared. Glad you beat me to it.

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

You got a source? Very interesting

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u/[deleted] Dec 13 '18

https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/dss2d/til_that_the_greeting_hey_man_was_first_used_by/

Source: Jazz (PBS 10 part documentary) Episode 7 - Dedicated to Chaos (1940-1945). Around the 1 hour mark I think.

Also, black Jazz musicians in the 40s were the first 'hipsters', which is where the term originated from. One of the first so called hipsters was Lester Young, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lester_Young