Information About & Several Definitions For The Saying "Boogity, Boogity, Boogity"

Edited By Azizi Powell

This is Part II of a two part pancocojams series on the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity".

This post presents information about & several definitions of "boogity, boogity, boogity".

Click https://pancocojams.blogspot.com/2019/05/a-chronological-list-of-various.html for Part I of this series. Part I presents a chronological list of examples of the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity" from a novel, various songs, a comedy routine, two movies, a NASCAR announcer's catchphrase, a minister's prayer at the opening of a NASCAR race, and a YouTube video clip of a viral country/Hip Hop song*.

A video, sound file, and/or article excerpts and/or transcripts are included for a few of these examples.

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The content of this post is presented for linguistic and cultural purposes.

All copyrights remain with their owners.

Thanks to all those who are quoted in this post and thanks to the publishers of sound files and videos that are embedded in this post or referred to in this post..
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*I was motivated to research this subject after watching the YouTube "movie video" of Lil Nas X's "Old Town Road" ft. Billy Ray Cyrus. A number of online articles and YouTube videos have addressed a lot of topics that have been raised as a result of the "Old Town Road" viral hit. However, one topic that I haven't come across yet online is what I call "the Chris Rock" segments of that video, and particularly Chris Rock's use of the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity".

I was also motivated to publish this pancocojams series because most of the articles about the saying "boogity boogity boogity" that I've come across don't include one of the earliest documented uses of this saying i.e. Chubby Checker- "Pony Time" or any other published African American use of the word "boogity" ("boogety") or the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity". This is particularly disconcerting since it's likely that the word "boogity" is of African American origin (from the word "boogie").

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INFORMATION ABOUT THE WORD "BOOGITY"
"Boogity" (sometimes spelled "boogety") is a word that was probably coined in the United States in the early 20th century from the word "boogie". Here's some information about the word "boogie" from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/boogie
"Definition of boogie (Entry 1 of 2)
1 : BOOGIE-WOOGIE
2 : earthy and strongly rhythmic rock music conducive to dancing
also : a period of or occasion for dancing to this music

boogie verb
boo·​gie | \ ˈbu̇-gē , ˈbü- \
variants: or less commonly boogy or boogey
boogied also boogeyed; boogying also boogeying
Definition of boogie (Entry 2 of 2)
intransitive verb

1 : to dance to rock music
also : REVEL, PARTY

2a : to move quickly
b : to get going

[...]

First Known Use of boogie
Noun
1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb
1929, in the meaning defined at sense 1"...

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Almost all of the examples of the word "boogity" that I've read online repeat that word one or two times ("boogity, boogity" or "boogity, boogity, boogity").

A sentence in this 2007 newspaper article https://lasvegassun.com/news/2007/jul/16/the-opening-line/ (the complete article given below) indicates that the word was used without that repetition since at least the early 20th century in the state of Kentucky (USA): "I heard the word boogity a lot as a kid growing up in Kentucky but, a combination of three of them together, I don't think I'd heard that before." [Darrell] Waltrip told the Associated Press in 2005."
-end of quote-
To provide some dates for that reference to 'hearing the word boogity a lot as a kid", (White American) former NASCAR driver and sports announcer Darell Waltrip was born in the state of Kentucky (USA) on February 5, 1947. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darrell_Waltrip.

I recall reading* some online comments about Darrel Waltrip's use of the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity" which criticized that saying as being "too southern".* The implication is that the word "boogity" (and not the repeated saying itself) comes from the American South.

*Unfortunately, I didn't document where I read these comments.

It appears that the word "boogity" (used without repetition) is a verb which means "to move quickly". This is one of the meanings of "boogie" that is given above.

The earliest reference to a repeated use of the word "boogity" that I came across is from 1952 (given as Excerpt #1 below: citing (African American) Ralph Ellison's novel The Invisible Man. However, I don't have a quote of that use.

The first quote that I have of a repeated use of the word "boogity" (actually "boogety") is from the song "Pony Time" that was popularized by (African American) Chubby Checker. Here's an excerpt from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pony_Time:
" "Pony Time" is a song written by Don Covay and John Berry (a member of Covay's earlier vocal group, the Rainbows), and originally recorded in 1960 by Covay with his group the Goodtimers."

The song achieved greater success when it was recorded by Chubby Checker the following year, becoming his second US #1 (after his 1960 single "The Twist"). Chubby Checker's recording of "Pony Time" was also a number one hit on the R&B charts.[1]

The song introduced a new dance style, The Pony, in which the dancer tries to look like he or she is riding a horse.

The "Boogety Shoe" phrase was used in Barry Mann's hit song "Who Put the Bomp" (1961).
-end of quote-
Don Covay was African American. I believe that the John Berry who co-wrote this song is (was?) also African American. [Hat tip to Unknown Sept. 29, 2021 for correcting the information that I had previously written which misindentified Don Convay's race.]

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OTHER EXCERPTS ABOUT THE SAYING "BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY"
Here's are some online excerpts about the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity" that I've come across: (These excerpts are numbered for referencing purposes only)

Excerpt #1:
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boogity%20boogity
"boogity boogity
telling someone to hurry or to get going.
Bob you need to boogity boogity!
by SC March 11, 2003"
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I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this was the earliest meaning of the word "boogity" and the saying "boogity boogity".

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Excerpt #2:
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boogity%20boogity
"boogity boogity
1) The infamous phrase--derived from the sounds made by horses galloping--that starts races and sells t-shirts. Translates into: "Hang on! Here we go!" (Darrell Waltrip, 2/2/03, The Cincinnati Enquirer)
"Let's go racin', boys! BOOGITY, BOOGITY, BOOGITY! Gearshift them things!" (Darrell Waltrip from the Dodge/Save-Mart 350 @ Infineon Raceway; Sonoma, California. 6/24/03)
by Meekrob July 08, 2003
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In the article given below as Excerpt #3, Darrell Waltrip recalls first using his racing car catchphrase "boogity, boogity, boogity" in 2005.

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Excerpt #3:
From https://lasvegassun.com/news/2007/jul/16/the-opening-line/
"THE OPENING LINE - Las Vegas Sun Newspaper
Jul 16, 2007 - Who started boogity, boogity, boogity?

It's amazing what you can learn by watching B movies late at night.

Since Fox began televising NASCAR races in 2001, color analyst Darrell Waltrip has taken credit for his "Boogity, boogity, boogity" call as the green flag drops to start each of that network's races.

Waltrip also has turned the phrase into something of a cottage industry, selling everything from T-shirts and hats to credential holders emblazoned with the nonsensical expression at his Internet store.

"I heard the word boogity a lot as a kid growing up in Kentucky but, a combination of three of them together, I don't think I'd heard that before," Waltrip told the Associated Press in 2005. "That 'Green, green, green. Go, go, go,' (that some announcers used) didn't do it for me."

This is where the late-night B movie comes in. A recent telecast of the 1977 Burt Reynolds movie "Smokey and the Bandit" provided one of those "A-ha!" moments. At one point late in the film, the character Cledus "Snowman" Snow, portrayed by actor/singer Jerry Reed, utters the phrase "Boogity, boogity, boogity, boogity" as he prepares to get all Eastbound and Down on Sheriff Buford T. Justice (portrayed by the scene-stealing Jackie Gleason).

After further - but hardly exhaustive - research, the phrase "Boogity, boogity, boogity" or some variation thereof turns up in the 1974 Ray Stevens novelty song "The Streak" and in a 1960 doo-wop parody by Barry Mann called "Who Put the Bomp (in the Bomp, Bomp, Bomp.)." Whatever the inspiration - subconscious or otherwise - for Waltrip's signature catchphrase, let's just be thankful he didn't borrow one of the more colorful lines from Gleason's Sheriff Justice. Then again...

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Excerpt #4:
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=boogity%20boogity
"boogity boogity
An onomatopoetic expression of running or other hurried activity, characteristic of traditional African and African American narration. Occurs in Ralph Waldo Ellison's "Invisible Man;" metrically identical with "imbili imbili," the formula used for the same purposes by African griots -- for example, Fa-Digi Sisoko's Son-Jara. Alternatively, "boogety boogety," "boogedy boogedy."
"So here he comes, runnin down the street boogity boogity till he gets tot he corner."
#interjections#sounds#narration#folk#formula
by Hrothgar April 22, 2008

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Excerpt #5
From https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Boogity%20boogity%20boogity
"boogity boogity boogity
As a discriptor on how fast someone, or something, is moving. Used a lot in southern anecdotes it has been adopted as a trademark of good ol boy Darrell Waltrip.
Also used by southern humorist, song writer Ray Stevens, in "The Streak".
"Here he come, boogity boogity boogity"!
"Here he come. Streakin. round the grease rack. Boogity oboogity boogity."
"Ol Blue come down thru the holler , chasin' that coon, boogity boogity boogity."
#quick#speedy#fast#mach snell#rapid#swift
by Vic DeHaven May 11, 2006"

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ADDENDUM - CHRIS ROCK'S SEGMENTS IN THE YOUTUBE "MOVIE" OF "OLD TOWN ROAD" (Lil Nas X's remix with Billy Ray Cyrus)

Description:
Old Town Road [1889]
Comedian/actor Chris Rock, portraying a Black sheriff, and his two Black deputies are shown riding horses trying to catch a Black cowboy (portrayed by Lil Nas X) who is holding tightly to a large bag of money while racing down a dirt road.

segment begins at .016
Chris Rock’s character [Sheriff ]- Woah!
Deputy #1 – Woah. Boss, I’m flabbergasted. Why we stop?
Sheriff- When you see ah Black man on ah horse goin that fast, you just gotta Let’em fly.
Deputy #2- You right. That’s ah horse horse.
Deputy #1- That is ah horse horse.

4:43
Sheriff- Never seen nothin that fast in my life.
Deputy #1- Never.
Deputy #2 - Gone Gone
Sheriff -faster than ah speedy bullet
Faster than a speedy bullet with grease on it.
Deputy #1 - with grease on it!
Sheriff -hair grease
Deputy #2- hair grease

[4:57] Sheriff - Look at him go-
Boogity, boogity, boogity.
Boogity, boogity, boogity.
Deputy #1 or #2 [stuttering] – boog boog boog boog boog
Sheriff - boogity"
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Description:
Old Town Road [1889]
Comedian/actor Chris Rock, portraying a Black sheriff, and his two Black deputies are shown riding horses trying to catch a Black cowboy (portrayed by Lil Nas X) who is holding tightly to a large bag of money while racing down a dirt road.

segment begins at .016
Chris Rock’s character [Sheriff ]- Woah!
Deputy #1 – Woah. Boss, I’m flabbergasted. Why we stop?
Sheriff- When you see ah Black man on ah horse goin that fast, you just gotta Let’em fly.
Deputy #2- You right. That’s ah horse horse.
Deputy #1- That is ah horse horse.

4:43
Sheriff- Never seen nothin that fast in my life.
Deputy #1- Never.
Deputy #2 - Gone Gone
Sheriff -faster than ah speedy bullet
Faster than a speedy bullet with grease on it.
Deputy #1 - with grease on it!
Sheriff -hair grease
Deputy #2- hair grease

[4:57] Sheriff - Look at him go-
Boogity, boogity, boogity.
Boogity, boogity, boogity.
Deputy #1 or #2 [stuttering] – boog boog boog boog boog
Sheriff - boogity
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This is an unofficial transcription by Azizi Powell from the YouTube video. Additions and corrections are welcome.
-snip-
Notice that the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity" refers to how fast the character that Lil Nas X is portraying is moving on his horse.

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This concludes Part II of this two part pancocojams series on the saying "boogity, boogity, boogity".

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