hootchy-kootchy

Meaning

Noun

• A kind of erotic dance similar to a belly dance, formerly performed at carnivals.
• Something suggestive or sexualized.

Origin

• Unknown. Attested from the 1890s. Compare kouta kouta dance, a similar belly dance also attested from the 1890s. Possibly influenced by forms such as honky-tonk (from 1880s), hula-hula (from 1820s), or hurdy-gurdy (from 1740s). Later forms coochie, cooch appear to derive from hootchy-kootchy.