Language of the Blues - Edmonton Blues Society

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W H O OPI E, W H O OPIN G
phemism for having sex and
crossed over into polite society as a term for general merriment and carousing.
Etymologists have traced whooping back to the old French houper
Songs:
- King Solomon Hill (Joe Holmes)
- Lonnie Johnson
- Lil Johnson
W O O F IN G, W O O F T I C K E T, W O L F T I C K E T
There are many forms of verbal game-playing in African American culture- from
displays of virtuosity and tale-telling such as rapping, shucking, and jiving to taunts
such as playing the dozens and woofing.
Woofing is verbally nimble teasing and name-
more often to mean
Author and folklorist Zora Neale Huston depicted her experience with woofing in her
folklore study Mules and Men. Huston described attending a Saturday night house party
in Polk County, Florida, as an outsider and how a little woofing made her feel more
at home.
.
what to make of her proper speech and nice dress. No one talked to her or asked her to
dance until one man finally approached her and began woofing- making fun of her speech
ton
-natured
grace, she was asked to dance and join the party. 376
verbal or physical throw d
the story of a girl named Mandy Brown who gets so mad at her man for cheating on her
that she threatens to shoot him with her handgun:
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