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That's what it's all about
Today is another day, so of course there is another Hokey Cokey post.
18 people call it the 'Hokey Cokey'.
13 people call it the 'Hokey Pokey' (though one of these was![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
amamama who admitted she had no idea what we were talking about, so I shall revise this number to 12).
Everyone who voted for 'Hokey Cokey' is (as far as I know) English or Welsh.
Those who voted for 'Hokey Pokey' are American, Canadian, Australian, Romanian (living in the US), and most interestingly, Northern Irish.thewhiteowl, I'm curious to know if the version you know as the Hokey Pokey is similar to the English/Welsh version or to the North American version.
No one voted for Hokey Tokey. Whencrumplehornedki is back online, I shall ask her if Wikipedia are right that this is what it is called in New Zealand.
There was a surprising amount of disagreement about how the dance is performed/what the words of the song are, not always along the same geographical lines as the name of the song. I wonder if some of this was because we are not all doing the Hokey Cokey on a regular basis and may not be remembering accurately from our childhoods.
On the whole, the British contingent prefer to put their left leg in, their left leg out, in, out, in, out then shake it all about, while the Americans simplify this by putting their left leg in, their left leg out, their left leg in, then shaking it all about.oursin and thewhiteowl both chose the 'American' version.
A lot of people have no idea what 'doing the hokey cokey' involves. Watch the video and take note of how the man does it. In America they seem to feel that wiggling one's hips or shaking one's butt (I quote) are involved.
Mostly, only the Brits do the fun rushing into the middle bit, thoughstmargarets recognised this. I bet if her ten year old and his mates do it like that it gets quite exciting! On the whole, the Americans just 'do the hokey cokey' at that point, though gabrielladusult has a different action which she explained in the comments, involving squatting down, then slowly standing up whilst waving the arms.
'Knees bend, arms stretch, ra, ra, ra' seems to be another British-only phenomenon, though some felt that it should be combined with 'That's what it's all about.' At first I agreed with this, but on reflection I don't.
bookwormsarah wanted to know why I cared. I just saw a reference to the Hokey Pokey on someone else's LJ yesterday and was struck by yet another (seemingly trivial) unexpected cultural difference. This was the kind of thing I found hardest when I was in the US. Big things that were different were expected and you could get used to them. But to suddenly find, halfway through the hokey cokey that everyone else was doing it differently? That's something you're never prepared for. You think you're all doing the same thing, until you're not. You think you're all following the same conversation, until suddenly you realise you're talking completely past each other. It gets quite wearing. And although, over time, it happened less often, it never completely went away and so I never completely relaxed. There's always something else to trip you up.
It's good to be home again.
18 people call it the 'Hokey Cokey'.
13 people call it the 'Hokey Pokey' (though one of these was
amamama who admitted she had no idea what we were talking about, so I shall revise this number to 12).Everyone who voted for 'Hokey Cokey' is (as far as I know) English or Welsh.
Those who voted for 'Hokey Pokey' are American, Canadian, Australian, Romanian (living in the US), and most interestingly, Northern Irish.
thewhiteowl, I'm curious to know if the version you know as the Hokey Pokey is similar to the English/Welsh version or to the North American version.No one voted for Hokey Tokey. When
crumplehornedki is back online, I shall ask her if Wikipedia are right that this is what it is called in New Zealand.There was a surprising amount of disagreement about how the dance is performed/what the words of the song are, not always along the same geographical lines as the name of the song. I wonder if some of this was because we are not all doing the Hokey Cokey on a regular basis and may not be remembering accurately from our childhoods.
On the whole, the British contingent prefer to put their left leg in, their left leg out, in, out, in, out then shake it all about, while the Americans simplify this by putting their left leg in, their left leg out, their left leg in, then shaking it all about.
oursin and thewhiteowl both chose the 'American' version.A lot of people have no idea what 'doing the hokey cokey' involves. Watch the video and take note of how the man does it. In America they seem to feel that wiggling one's hips or shaking one's butt (I quote) are involved.
Mostly, only the Brits do the fun rushing into the middle bit, though
stmargarets recognised this. I bet if her ten year old and his mates do it like that it gets quite exciting! On the whole, the Americans just 'do the hokey cokey' at that point, though gabrielladusult has a different action which she explained in the comments, involving squatting down, then slowly standing up whilst waving the arms.'Knees bend, arms stretch, ra, ra, ra' seems to be another British-only phenomenon, though some felt that it should be combined with 'That's what it's all about.' At first I agreed with this, but on reflection I don't.
bookwormsarah wanted to know why I cared. I just saw a reference to the Hokey Pokey on someone else's LJ yesterday and was struck by yet another (seemingly trivial) unexpected cultural difference. This was the kind of thing I found hardest when I was in the US. Big things that were different were expected and you could get used to them. But to suddenly find, halfway through the hokey cokey that everyone else was doing it differently? That's something you're never prepared for. You think you're all doing the same thing, until you're not. You think you're all following the same conversation, until suddenly you realise you're talking completely past each other. It gets quite wearing. And although, over time, it happened less often, it never completely went away and so I never completely relaxed. There's always something else to trip you up.It's good to be home again.
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On another note, I understand what you're saying about cultural differences. Though I seem to expect everything to be vastly different, and thus am pleasantly surprised when similarities show up. I guess that with internet and the general globalisation, my kids will see loads more similarities than I ever will.
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When Dave wakes up I will ask him for another opinion in what is done in Northern Ireland.
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have goneare completely bonkers.no subject
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