hooping
n.— «But though his teaching was done, Rodgers’ “hoop” was just beginning, in a voice turned musical pendulum. “I’ve got pow-er, to live for Him!” Rodgers half sang, half spoke, his lips an inch from the microphone. His words rose up the scale, dropped low, rose again.…Hooping has a long tradition in America’s black churches, and the expression sounds like what it describes: the lifting singsong delivery at a sermon’s peak that folds congregation and pastor together in jubilant worship.» —“Minister known for hooping, energetic style of delivering a sermon” by Steven G. Vegh Virginian-Pilot (Hampton Roads, Virginia) July 31, 2006. (source: Double-Tongued Dictionary)
Further reading
Lucy in Louisa, Virginia, recalls that if her mother was exasperated when the kids were misbehaving, she’d announce I’m going to put you both in a wet paper bag and see who falls out first! This is part of a complete episode.
Related
Rose in Lebanon, Virginia recalls a phrase passed down from her great-grandmother: The night before the first day of school, parents would come into the children’s bedroom and say in a singsong voice: School butter, school butter. This...