'Hoochin'

PO and Flad have made contact and as per usual a pearl of knowledge has been created. Discussing the Hamfaerin and all the music and dancing, Po and Flad discussed the finer points…

Hoochin - The thing you do in the middle of a Boston 2 Step or Shetland backstep. It has long bothered PO that people cannot say “hooch” properly. There are may permutations of the word and over the years to has been dituted and changed to an unrecognisable form. In fairness the general rule is that anyone who has grown up north of the 55 degree latitude line is genetically programmed to pronounce this word properly. South of this then it comes out as “hook” or even worse “ook” so PO has created 2 step by step methods for people to learn how to say “hooch” properly. Fear not, if you contain genetic material originating North of 55 degrees you are half way there

Peeps attempting 'Da Hoochin'

Method 1.

This works best if you have had a bad cough. Just cough, but say “oooooo” as you are coughing. This gives the basic sound and will train your larynx into the correct projection.

Method 2.

Possibly less offensive and painful than Method 1:

a) Say “who” as in “who is that?”

b) Now remember the last time you stood on your cats tail? It made a “Hchhhhhh” sound. That’s the one. Draw your lips back over your teeth and pass air (outwardly) over the back of your tongue. Practice this until you can make a consistant sound.

c) Now say “who” followed by “Hchhhh” taking a breath between each enounciation. Practice for 5 mins.

d) Now try to say “who” followed by “hchhh” without taking the breath between. Practice.

e) Finally run the word together and hey presto “hooch.” Practise lots until you can scream it spontaneously without thinking about it….you will need to be able to do this during dancing. You can’t stop in the middle of an Eightsome Reel to think about shouting “hooch.”

f) Go to the Hamfaerin dance and impress all the locals with your gay abandoned “hooch” ability.

This PO and Flad TOP TIP is sponsored by “Slippereen”