Today's Word "boogie"
Published in Vocabulary
boogie \BU-gee\ (verb) - (Humorous slang) To dance in a fast and unrestrained fashion; to move quickly, hurry; to leave or get moving.
"Devon determined that he'd better boogie if he was to finish his papers, study for his mid-terms, and manage to work his customary sixty-hour week at the coffee shop."
From "boogie-woogie" a reduplication of "boogie," certainly from Black English, possibly from Black West African English bogi "to dance" akin to Hausa buga "to hit, beat (drums, etc.)" "Boogie-Woogie" entered the American idiom from a 1928 recording "Pinetop's Boogie-Woogie" by Clarence "Pinetop" Smith. It was originally a piano style that developed in the U.S. after rag-time based on recurrent chord progression C-F-C-F-C-G-F-C played with a strong recurrent bass rhythm. These chords were the immediate predecessor of the blues and made a come-back in early rock and roll. The dancing that accompanied boogie was fast and unbridled, hence the meaning of today's word.
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