hoe-down not in DARE

[Laurence Horn]

On Feb 8, 2014, at 12:10 AM, Ben Zimmer wrote:

> On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 11:53 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>
>> On Feb 7, 2014, at 8:12 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On Fri, Feb 7, 2014 at 4:58 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It's not regional, but rather used everywhere.
>>>
>>> Well, I haven't been everywhere. But, where I have been, "hoe-down" is
>>> familiar. OTOH, I have no idea what, precisely, a hoe-down is. If the point
>>> is that the term has an exact meaning, beyond "a kind of party with music
>>> and dancing," that is known only regionally, well, based only on my own
>>> experience, then I grant the possibility that "hoe-down" is a regional term
>>> that ought to be included in DARE, like "snake-doctor."
>>
>> This is pretty much what I think. I wouldn't be able to distinguish a hoe-down
>> from a hootenanny (if there is one), and have no idea whether a rave qualifies
>> as either, but if you tell me you went to a hoe-down, I know that you went to a
>> place where people were dancing, and that was probably a rural get-together.
>> I assume there are regions where people know the precise meaning of this term.
>
> That was also probably Paul McCartney's understanding of the term when
> he was looking for a rhyme for "showdown" in "Rocky Raccoon."
>

Not to mention Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana. In the eloquent lyrics of her lowdown Hoedown Throwdown...


Boom clap, boom de clap
Boom boom clap, boom de clap
Boom boom clap, boom de clap
Boom boom clap, boom de clap
Whoa oh oh, here we go

Boom boom clap, boom de clap de clap
(Whoa oh oh)
(That's right!)
Boom boom clap, boom de clap de clap
(Whoa oh oh)
Boom boom clap, boom de clap de clap
Boom boom clap, boom de clap de clap

1, 2, 3!
Everybody come on, off your seats
I'm gonna tell you about a beat
That's gonna make you move your feet

I'll give the barbeque
Show and tell you how to move
If you're 5 or 82
This is something you can do

Pop it, lock it, polka dot it
Countrify it, hip hop it
Put your hawk up in the sky, move side to side
Jump to the left, stick it, glide

Come on everybody
Ok, we're gonna do this one more time

Pop it, lock it, polka dot it
Countrify it, hip hop it
Put your hawk up in the sky, move side to side
Jump to the left, stick it, Slide

Zig zag cross the floor
Shuffle in diagonal
When the drum hits hands on your hips
1,2,3 gime 180 twist

And then a zig zag, step, slide
Lean in back clap three times
Shake it out from head to toe
Throw it all together, that's how we roll

Do the hoedown
(Throwdown!)
Do the hoedown
(Throwdown!)
Do the hoedown
(Throwdown!)
Throw it all together, that's how we roll

Come on , here we go

Pop it, lock it, polka dot it
Countrify it, hip hop it
Put your hawk up in the sky, move side to side
Jump to the left, stick it, Slide

Zig zag cross the floor
Shuffle in diagonal
When the drum hits hands on your hips
1,2,3 gime 80 twist

And then a zig zag, step, slide
Lean in back clap three times
Shake it out from head to toe
Throw it all together, that's how we roll

Do the hoedown
(Throwdown!)
Do the hoedown
(Throwdown!)
Do the hoedown
(Throwdown!)
Throw it all together, that's how we roll

LH

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