According to our old pal Wikipedia, “The hokey cokey (United Kingdom) , hokey pokey (United States, Canada, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) is a participation dance with a distinctive accompanying tune and lyric structure. It is well known in English-speaking countries. It is of unclear origin, with two main traditions having evolved in different parts of the world. The song and accompanying dance peaked in popularity as a music hall song and novelty dance in the mid-1940s in Britain and Ireland.”
The entire article is fascinating, and I recommend that you read it.
Hokey pokey may also refer to:
* An iconic New Zealand flavour of ice cream
* A New Zealand term for Honeycomb toffee
* A record label
* An album by Richard and Linda Thompson released in 1975
Now there’s something I really could become addicted to.
Grammarians, do not think less of me for ending that sentence with a preposition. Someone has said that people who think prepositions are something you should not end a sentence with do not know what language is all about or what prepositions are for. No less a personage than Winston Churchill, when he was criticized (British, criticised) for ending a sentence with a preposition, said, “That is the sort of criticism up with which I will not put.” He said some other memorable things as well, but they are not pertinent.
Speaking of words and how they are used, there is a slide show over at dictionary.com showing seven words the Internet has reinvented. The words are friend, troll, like, link, address, surf, and block. Take a look.
As longtime readers of this blog know, I have always tried to cover many topics in my posts. And when I cover a topic, I try to look at it from different angles. Whether the subject is words or Winston Churchill or ice cream or the participation dance known as the hokey pokey (hokey cokey in the U.K.) , my readers deserve no less. After all...
That’s what it’s all about.
Well, I will put my left arm in and shake it all about ~ as my sign of participation in your virtual global do-si-do ~ oops wrong dance ~ no matter :-/
ReplyDeleteI am laughing ... prepositions, definitions, juxtapositions ...
ReplyDeleteI like the way you put a comment in. You pull a comment out. You put another in. And you shake them all about.
Smiling (with multiple left feet) at your post and your skilled commentators.
ReplyDeleteYou have me laughing too, for which I am most grateful at present. Have this in return. It's by William Shakespeare...probably *winks*.
ReplyDeleteO proud left foot, that ventures quick within
Then soon upon a backward journey lithe.
Anon, once more the gesture, then begin:
Command sinistral pedestal to writhe.
Commence thou then the fervid Hokey-Poke,
A mad gyration, hips in wanton swirl.
To spin! A wilde release from Heavens yoke.
Blessed dervish! Surely canst go, girl.
The Hoke, the poke — banish now thy doubt
Verily, I say, 'tis what it's all about.
— by "William Shakespeare"
Ah! Don't forget it's still summer here! Now you have me wanting to rush out and get an icecream. James missed hokey pokey icecream so much when he was in Germany last year, he tried to make it. But he said it wasn't quite the same...
ReplyDeleteI am smiling too! Thanks to all of you -- Carol, 3OK, Sue (EC), Michelle (AC), and Kate -- for commenting!
ReplyDeleteInteresting and educational as always!
ReplyDeleteIn Great Britain a "Topic" is a chocolate bar with "a hazelnut in every bite". Hokey cokey can also be a very intimate activity - not necessarily involving "Topic" bars.
ReplyDelete