Not P but Moby-Dick (21)

[Ian Livingston]

Could be. That was my immediate association with Melville using it here.
Put down the hoe, have a little party, dance off the aches and pains, and
give out holler now and then. Yee-haw!

On Sat, Oct 7, 2023 at 11:39 AM David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:

> Might it literally have derived from the farm workers “putting their hoes
> down?”
>
> On Sat, Oct 7, 2023 at 1:25 PM Ian Livingston <igrlivingston at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Yes, regarding association, though here the 'dance' is labor. The Long
>> Island sailor's call that "all legs go to harvest soon" is acknowledgement
>> that the Pequod is entering the latitudes where will they will soon be
>> lowering boats to hunt whales. Hoedowns are traditionally events marking
>> the harvest season. So, dance now, while you have the energy, you'll soon
>> be bone-weary from bending to the work.
>>
>> On Tue, Oct 3, 2023 at 5:53 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>> > There may indeed be a connection. The first quote in OED for hoedown:
>> >
>> > As to dancing, no Long-Island negro could shuffle you ‘double trouble’,
>> or
>> > ‘hoe corn and dig potatoes’ more scientifically.
>> > *Salmagundi; or, The whim-whams and opinions of Launcelot Langstaff,
>> Esq.,
>> > and others* • 1st edition, 24 Jan. 1807–25 Jan. 1808.
>> >
>> >
>> > On Mon, Oct 2, 2023 at 9:21 PM Mike Jing <gravitys.rainbow.cn at gmail.com
>> >
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> > > Also from Chapter 40:
>> > >
>> > > LONG-ISLAND SAILOR.
>> > > Well, well, ye sulkies, there’s plenty more of us. Hoe corn when you
>> may,
>> > > say I. All legs go to harvest soon. Ah! here comes the music; now for
>> it!
>> > >
>> > > The Norton Critical Edition says this is "A call to a hoedown, or a
>> > square
>> > > dance." Does "hoe corn" have anything to do with hoedown?
>> > >
>> > > Also, what does "All legs go to harvest soon" mean here?
>> > >
>> > >
>> > --
>> > Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>> >
>> --
>> Pynchon-L: https://waste.org/mailman/listinfo/pynchon-l
>>
>