Learn English – When was “for real” first used in the USA

etymologyslang

Does anyone have a sense of when the phrase "for real" (meaning: "Is that so?") entered the American vernacular?

I really want to know if it started being used around the start of the Vietnam War era (ca. 1961).

Best Answer

The expression appears to be from the '40s, probably of Yiddish origin:

For real (adjective phrase)

Believably existent; as good or bad as seems; authentic :

  • But if you ask if they are for real, the answer is right there/ I often wondered if the bastard was for real

For real (adverb phrase)

Really; truly :

  • I'm gonna for real do it, right now

[1940s+; based on Yiddish far emmes, ''for true?'']

(The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.)