Hip Notch is the fusion of top notch and hip. It is where hip meets top notch or when something popular and of high quality is also trendy and cool. Usually hipness and popularity are negatively correlated; that is, as things become more popular they also become less hip.
Top Notch is when both occur simultaneously, or as stated above, when top notch meets hip.
TED and YouTube are Hip Notch. John Stewart and Steven Colbert are Hip Notch. Ultimate Frisbee, surfing, snowboarding, etc, are also examples. President Obama was Hip Notch but is becoming increasingly less so (like Facebook). Myspace is not Hip Notch.
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