Thursday's British referendum on EU membership (let's not talk about the
result) has given American readers cause to wonder about the hokey-cokey (thanks for pointing this out, Emma). Americans know the song-dance as the hokey-pokey. On referendum day, it was a hashtag on Twitter, with gems like these:
(Click here for a barbershop referendum hokey-cokey.)
Various sources tell origin stories for the song/dance. It may be based on an old British or Irish children's song/game, but it definitely became popular (as hokey-cokey) in British music hall entertainment in the 1940s. The Hokey Pokey Dance was copyrighted in the US in the 1940s, and recorded in the 1950s as the Hokey Pokey. And of course there were legal battles. I'll refer you to Fraser's Phrases on BBC America's Anglophenia for more of the story.
Sometimes it's also known as The Hokey-Tokey. Maybe particularly in New Zealand where Hokey-Pokey is a flavo(u)r of ice cream.
The tune is the same, but the lyrics (and therefore actions) may differ a bit. I can only tell you about where I grew up in the US and where my child is growing up in the UK, and there might be local variations.
Here's a Hokey Pokey:
And here's a Hokey Cokey:
The differences in these are in line with my experience, that the "knees bent, arms stretched, rah-rah-rah" part is not used in the Hokey-Pokey, but is generally found in the Hokey-Cokey.
Any other good #hokeycokey tweets or jokes to share? Or school dance horror stories? I need some cheering up...
We had one referendum on "in" or "out". If there's another it should be focused on the question whether to "shake it all about" #hokeycokey— Peter Coles (@telescoper) 27 June 2016
Disappointed there wasn't an option to "shake it all about" :( #iVoted #hokeycokey— Chris Dutton (@ThatDuttGuy) 23 June 2016
(Click here for a barbershop referendum hokey-cokey.)
Various sources tell origin stories for the song/dance. It may be based on an old British or Irish children's song/game, but it definitely became popular (as hokey-cokey) in British music hall entertainment in the 1940s. The Hokey Pokey Dance was copyrighted in the US in the 1940s, and recorded in the 1950s as the Hokey Pokey. And of course there were legal battles. I'll refer you to Fraser's Phrases on BBC America's Anglophenia for more of the story.
Sometimes it's also known as The Hokey-Tokey. Maybe particularly in New Zealand where Hokey-Pokey is a flavo(u)r of ice cream.
The tune is the same, but the lyrics (and therefore actions) may differ a bit. I can only tell you about where I grew up in the US and where my child is growing up in the UK, and there might be local variations.
Here's a Hokey Pokey:
And here's a Hokey Cokey:
The differences in these are in line with my experience, that the "knees bent, arms stretched, rah-rah-rah" part is not used in the Hokey-Pokey, but is generally found in the Hokey-Cokey.
Any other good #hokeycokey tweets or jokes to share? Or school dance horror stories? I need some cheering up...
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