What is a Herf?

The definitive posting on ASC comes from John Chunko, who wrote:

HERF - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

The un-official word of ASC is Herf. Herf is a unique part of speech. It can be correctly used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an adverb, an infinitive, a prefix, a suffix and an explicative.
The arcane word "herf" first entered the ASC lexicon on November 21, 1996, and was quickly elevated to frenetic and common use by ASCers. The Prince of Skeeves exposed ASC to the word herf in a casual posting to the group... however it was ASCers, as a budding collective, who took the word and made it divine.
Herf is now virulently spreading to worldwide common use as hip cigar parlance.

HERF - CHRONOLOGY:

As for the origin of Herf, here's the History of Herf (it's a matter of record on DejaNews)...
The word "herf" first appeared on ASC...
-------- [post quoted below] ----------------------------------
It was November 21, 1996... the elections were over, and "herf" unceremoniously beams into our lexicon... And, you were there (here's the exact post)...
******************************************************
Subject: worst cigars IMHO
From: aloysius@gte.net (Prince of Skeeves)
1996/11/21
Message-ID: <571i9b$ht4@news3.gte.net>
Newsgroups: alt.smokers.cigars

I bought a Canaria d'Oro(sic?)Robusto out of curiousity
and it was really a horrible, stale,grassy smoke with a
peed-on taste. I gave it about 2 inches before I put it
out. Also, anything Macanudo...I tried several when I
first began smoking cigars and found them all to be very
bland and almost impossible to herf, they were so tightly
wrapped. I think the list of `Mediocre Smokes' for most
folks would be huge.

******************************************************

And, the voices of ASCers cry out immediately... saying, "what is this _herf_ thing?" In answer... on November 23, Prince of Skeeves elucidates,

Message-ID: <5770op$cqu@news1.gte.net>:
To `herf' is to draw on a cigar.

The voices of ASC follow in chorus: "this herf thing... it is good" And, in a grand gesture, full grace is shared...

Subject: an early definition of the word...
From: aloysius@gte.net (Prince of Skeeves)
1997/07/11
Message-ID: <5q5f19$dfa$1@news12.gte.net>
Newsgroups: alt.smokers.cigars

EVERYONE MUST HERF

The first time I heard the word `herf' and recognized
it's potential for the enrichment of my vocabulary was
in junior college in Clyde, Texas in 1982 from a blueblood
derelict friend of my named Stu. In the context of the
time it was used to describe the ungainly and humorous
facial contortion required to deeply draw on a large,
hand-rolled cigarette of unknown filling while driving
a motor vehicle and keeping an eye peeled for the
Callahan County sheriff. Later I found the term `herf'
described nicely the method for getting a good mouthful
of tasty smoke from my favorite cigars.(Padron and HDM
Rothschilds)

S. delaVega
Prince of Skeeves

-------- [end quoted post] ----------------------------------

So, that's the herf story... on 11/21/96 "Prince of Skeeves" (whoever he/she/it is/was) introduced our newsgroup to its very own beloved word... And, as a bonus...

HERF LEVITY:

Herf... a word which is now spreading to virtually all corners of the cigar world... thanks to the likes of the many and varied distinguished herfing enthusiasts (herfnicks)... such as:

the good Dr. Miguelit (used on his many national radio interviews),
Mr. Lew Rothman (used proudly and prominently on JR's Winter catalog issue's front cover),
ASC elder Mr. Bob Curtis (used liberally all over the ICG website),
the Hon. Steven Saka (used strategically at least four times in the course of the 1997 New Hampshire state senatorial debate and once as an invective following the debate's broadcast, which, btw, was televised on CSPAN-3 to over a half-billion viewers worldwide, including the space shuttle mission crew),
Connie Whittager, perky weatherwoman on Montgomery, Alabama's WKKG-TV (used to describe the fog which paralyzed suburban roadways for two straight days in April 1997... in an interview on the Weather Channel, she explained, "...motorists were advised to avoid the western beltway and all lakeside arteries due to a stationary fog bank thicker than a hundred hounddogs herfin' Hondurans in a hayloft", and
by Jorge Jesus Delgado, Jr., now departed, (who ardently pleaded to "herf a cigar" before his execution in the Texas death-house in October 1997)... ...just to mention a few of the notables!
PS: Remember... November 21 is World Herfing Day!!! Sorry you asked, huh?<g> Regards, ...JC

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