An article posted on another list was about a gentleman who had his wallet returned after being stolen some 40 years ago. The article ended with the sentence, "It's not every hip 'n stitch that you get a 40 year old treasure back." Anybody know what on earth "hip 'n stitch" is?

Google turns up nothing of use. Was there anything in the article you could use to contact the author?

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hip 'n stitch

I put "hip and stitch" in Google and came up with one site. However, it seems to be a knitting term and doesn't seem to fit.

I suspect it is a colloquialism perhaps even particular to the individual.

It sounds like he is using a colloquial term meaning "pickpocketting".

I do believe you are right. That makes sense. Thank you.

Jo......Read the "hip and stitch" article .....when it came out...I Said to myself..what the heck does that mean?..Plugged the phase into a search engine...Your discussion popped up...Thats how I landed At Wordcraft...

Well, Goofball, you are right. There are 81 ghits for "hip 'n stitch," and Wordcraft is on top. Interesting...and we are so glad to have you!

Having found the article online at http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05294/592595.stm I have been able to see the phrase in context.

I wonder, could it be an attempted pun on happenstance?

The final sentence would then read "It's not every happenstance that someone finds the wallet they lost 40 years ago."

The speaker, Mr. Gibson, seems to use colorful colloquialisms. He says he wanted to give the thief a "$200 butt-whuppin."

Mr. Gibson has no phone listing, so I've sent off an e-mail to the reporter who wrote the article. Further information as events warrant.

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I wonder, could it be an attempted pun on happenstance?

Maybe the reporter had never heard the word happenstance and thought he said hip'n'stitch. Kind of like when my home town paper reported that the high school seniors on a class trip to New York saw the Broadway musical Lame Is Rob .