What is hype? Where does the word come from?

The first dictionary definition of hype (1967) was 'excessive or misleading publicity or advertising'.

Hype is a word still associated with marketing. It derives from the Greek word hyperbole, meaning 'over-casting' or an exaggerated statement. 

There are other interesting derivations. 

• Hype was an underworld slang word in the 1920s and continued into the 1960s. To hype someone was to shortchange them, and a hypester was a conman. 
• There was also a connection with drug-user slang. Hype was short for hypodermic needle.