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
In this week’s puzzle, Quiz Guy John Chaneski changes a single letter in the title of a popular musical to create a new word and a new show, then lists altered songs from the new cast album and challenges you to guess the name of the musical. For...
What’s up with ketchup? The shifting history and spelling of the name of this condiment. For centuries, ketchup was a fishy sauce originating in Asia—the tomatoes came only later! Plus, a new book shows what’s lost when a language dies: when there...