Hokey Pokey
See also: hokey-pokey and hokey pokey
English
Alternative forms
- hokey pokey
- hokey-pokey
- hokeypokey
Etymology
Unknown, compare the earlier-attested names for similar group circle dances from which the modern dance seems to have evolved, hinkumbooby from the 19th century and hankin booby from the 16th.
Noun
Hokey Pokey
- (US, Canada, Australia, preceded by definite article) A group dance performed in a circle, in which people move a variety of their body parts in and out of the middle, and shake them about.
- 2008 June 19, Peter Applebome, “At 91, He Isn’t Ready for the Last Dance Just Yet”, in New York Times:
- So he choreographs each event depending on the crowd, starting with something to learn the drill, like “Marching Through Georgia,” working in something to loosen people up like the hokeypokey, and probably a contra dance (long lines, not squares) like the Virginia reel.
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Synonyms
- Hokey Cokey (UK)
- hokey tokey
See also
- hokey