What's a Hokie? (Hokey-Pokey? That's what it's all about?)

Thu Apr 26 07:11:07 UTC 2007

The question of "What's a Hokie?" has come up this past week. It was used  in 
an 1896 song lyric, but ultimately I think it comes from the 1830s "hokee  
pokee" song and "hocus pocus."
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Early citations and other ideas appreciated.
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(GOOGLE BOOKS)
_The Comic Magazine - Page  131_ 
(http://books.google.com/books?id=IpIlAAAAMAAJ&q="king+of+the+cannibal+islands"+hokee&dq="king+of+the+cannibal+islands"+hok
ee&ie=ISO-8859-1) 
1832
shrieked the cats most discordantly,)— " aid me,  while I sing,"— (" Hokee 
Pokee 
... the King of the Cannibal  Islands," struck up some wandering minstrel in 
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_http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside.cfm/id/16439_ 
(http://www.nls.uk/broadsides/broadside.cfm/id/16439) 
This ballad begins: 'Oh, have you heard the news of late, / About a mighty  
king so great? / If you have not, 'tis in my pate--- / The King of the Cannibal 
 Islands.' The sheet was originally published and sold in 1858 by the Poet's 
Box  of St Andrew's Lane, Glasgow, but the address has been obscured and stamp 
for  the Dundee Poet's Box put on the top left, indicating that Oates 
'inherited' the  sheet. The song is to be sung to the strangely-entitled air of 
'Hokee pokee  wonkee fum'.

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_http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie.php_ (http://www.vt.edu/about/hokie.php) 

What Is a Hokie?

A Look at Virginia Tech Traditions
Here is the answer to that oft-posed question, "What's a Hokie?" and an  
explanation of other Tech traditions. 
What is a Hokie? The origin of the word "Hokie" has nothing to do with a  
turkey. It was coined by O. M. Stull (class of 1896), who used it in a spirit  
yell he wrote for a competition. 
Here's how that competition came to be held. Virginia Tech was founded in  
1872 as a land-grant institution and was named Virginia Agricultural and  
Mechanical College. In 1896, the Virginia General Assembly officially changed  the 
college's name to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and  Polytechnic 
Institute, a name so long that citizens shortened it in popular  usage to 
VPI. The original college cheer, which made reference to the original  name of 
the institution, was no longer suitable. Thus, a contest was held to  select a 
new spirit yell, and Stull won the $5 top prize for his cheer, now  known as 
Old Hokie: 
Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy. 
Techs, Techs, V.P.I. 
Sola-Rex, Sola-Rah.  
Polytechs - Vir-gin-ia. 
Rae, Ri, V.P.I.  
Later, the phrase "Team! Team! Team!" was added at the end, and an "e" was  
added to "Hoki." 
Stull later said that he made up the word as an attention-grabber. Though he  
may not have known it, "Hokie" (in its various forms) has been around at 
least  since 1842. According to Johann Norstedt, now a retired Virginia Tech 
English  professor, "[Hokie was] a word that people used to express feeling, 
approval,  excitement, surprise. Hokie, then, is a word like 'hooray,' or 'yeah,' or 
 'rah.'" Whatever its original meaning, the word in the popular cheer did, as 
 Stull wanted, grab attention and has been a part of Virginia Tech tradition 
ever  since. 
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_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Hokie_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Hokie) 

Old Hokie

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: _navigation_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Hokie#column-one) , 
_search_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Hokie#searchInput) 
Old Hokie is a spirited cheer, often uttered by fans of _Virginia  Tech_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech) 's athletic teams. It was coined by 
O.M. Stull (Class of _1896_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1896) ) in a winning 
student body  contest entry to mark the _changing  of the university's name_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Polytechnic_Institute_and_State_Universit
y#History)  from Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College  (VAMC) to 
Virginia Polytechnic Institute (VPI) in 1896. According to Stull, "_Hokie_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokie) " is a  nonsensical word he made up purely as an 
attention-getter. 
Old Hokie
In Stull's original version of Old Hokie, several words were spelled  
differently including "Hokie" itself: 
Hoki, Hoki, Hoki, Hy.
Techs, Techs, V.P.I.
Sola-Rex,  Sola-Rah.
Polytechs - Vir-gin-ia.
Rae, Ri, V.P.I. 
The current version adds the 'e' to Hokie, takes off the 'S' from Tech and  
Polytech, and also adds "Team! Team! Team!" 
Hokie, Hokie, Hokie, Hi
Tech, Tech, V-P-I
Sol-A-Rex,  Sol-A-Rah
Poly-tech Virgin-i-a
Ray, Rah, V-P-I
Team! Team!  Team! 
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(OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY) 
hocus-pocus, n. (a., adv.)
[Appears early in 17th c., as the appellation of a juggler (and, apparently,  
as the assumed name of a particular conjuror) derived from the sham Latin  
formula employed by him: see below, and cf. Grimm, Hokuspokus. 
The notion that hocus  pocus was a parody of the Latin words used in the 
Eucharist, rests merely on  a conjecture thrown out by Tillotson: see below. 
1655 _ADY_ (http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-a.html#ady)  Candle in 
Dark 29, I  will speak of one man..that went about in King James his time..who 
called  himself, The Kings Majesties most excellent Hocus Pocus, and so was 
called,  because that at the playing of every Trick, he used to say, Hocus pocus, 
 tontus talontus, vade celeriter jubeo, a dark composure of words, to blinde  
the eyes of the beholders, to make his Trick pass the more currantly without  
discovery. a1694  _TILLOTSON_ 
(http://dictionary.oed.com/help/bib/oed2-t2.html#tillotson)  Serm. xxvi. (1742) II. 237 In all probability those common 
juggling words of hocus  pocus are nothing else but a corruption of hoc est corpus, 
by way of  ridiculous imitation of the priests of the Church of Rome in their 
trick of  Transubstantiation.]  
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_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_Pokey_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_Pokey)  
The Hokey Pokey or the Hokey-Cokey is a _participation dance_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participation_dance)   with a distinctive accompanying tune and 
lyric structure. It is popular in  English-speaking countries. 
It is of unclear origin with two main traditions having evolved in different  
parts of the world. 
(...) 
Origins and Meaning 
There are many theories and conjectures about the meaning of the words "Hokey 
 Pokey", and of their origin. Some scholars attribute the origin to the 
_Shaker_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaker)  song  Hinkum-Booby which had 
similar lyrics and was published in Edward Deming  Andrews' A gift to be simple in 
_1940_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1940) : (p.42) 

" A song rendered ("with appropriate gestures") by two Canterbury  sisters 
while on a visit to Bridgewater, N.H. in 1857 starts thus:  
I put my right hand in,  
I put my right hand out,  
I give my right hand a shake, shake shake  
And I turn myself about.  
As the song continues, the "left hand" is put in, then the "right foot,"  
then the "left foot," then "my whole head."  
...Newell gave it the title, "Right Elbow In," and said that is was  danced " 
deliberately and decorously...with slow rhythmical motion."  

In the United States the term _hokey pokey_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_pokey_(ice_cream))   previously and separately was a generic term for 
street vendor's ice cream in  the 19th and early 20th centuries. 
Other scholars have found similar dances and lyrics dating back to the 17th  
century. A very similar dance is cited in _Robert Chambers'_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Chambers)   Popular Rhymes of Scotland from 1826. 
According to the _Oxford English  Dictionary_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_English_Dictionary)  "hokey cokey" comes from "_hocus pocus_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hocus_pocus) ", the  traditional magician's incantation 
which in its turn derives from a distortion  of of hoc enim est corpus meum - 
"this is my body" - the words of _consecration_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consecration)  accompanying  the _elevation_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elevation)  of the host at _Eucharist_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eucharist) , 
the  point, at which according to traditional Catholic practice, 
_transubstantiation_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transubstantiation)   takes place - mocked 
by _Puritans_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puritanism)  and others as a form 
 of "magic words". The Anglican Canon _George  Nairn-Briggs_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Nairn-Briggs&action=edit) , Provost of 
_Wakefield Cathedral_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakefield_Cathedral) ,  West 
Yorkshire, says that the dance as well comes from the Catholic _Latin mass_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tridentine_Mass) _[1]_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_Pokey#_note-) . The priest  would perform his movements with his back 
to the congregation, who could not  hear well the Latin words nor see clearly 
his movements. 
(...) 
At _Virginia Tech_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech) , where the  
athletic teams are known as _Hokies_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virginia_Tech_Hokies) , fans dance  the Hokey Pokey between the third and fourth quarters 
of football  games. 
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_http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_pokey_%28ice_cream%29_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hokey_pokey_(ice_cream))  
Hokey pokey is a flavour of _ice cream_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_cream)  sold in _New  Zealand_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Zealand) , also 
exported to Japan and the Pacific. 
According to the New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers Association _[1]_ 
(http://www.nzicecream.org.nz/industry.htm) , it is the  nation's second most 
popular ice cream flavour (after _vanilla_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla) ). 
It is made by adding  small, solid lumps of _toffee_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toffee)  to vanilla ice cream. 
"Hokey pokey" was a slang term for ice cream in general in several areas —  
including _New  York_ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_York)  _[2]_ 
(http://www.littlebookroom.com/historicshopsNY.html)   and parts of _Great Britain_ 
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain)  — in the  19th and early-to-mid 20th 
centuries, and specifically for the ice cream sold by  street vendors, or 
"hokey-pokey" men. The vendors, said to be mostly of Italian  descent, supposedly 
used a sales pitch or song involving the phrase "hokey  pokey", for which 
several origins have been suggested, although no certain  etymology is known. 
The name may come from the term "hocus-pocus", or it may be a corruption of  
one of several Italian phrases. According to "The Encyclopedia of Food"  
(published 1923, New York) hokey pokey (in the U.S.) is "a term applied to mixed  
colors and flavors of ice cream in cake form". The Encyclopedia says the term  
originated from the Italian phrase oche poco - "oh how little".  Alternative 
possible derivations include other similar-sounding Italian phrases:  for 
example hoco uno poco - "take/try a (little) piece" or "ecce pocce"  (roughly) "Get 
it here, it's cold".

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