All that hokey cokey business

Recently I’ve come across an article in the Guardian online edition about the UK government’s education white paper on turning schools into multi-academy trusts and got interested in the use of the famous ‘hokey cokey’ word:

The new president will be highly critical of the Department for Education’s changes to assessments for primary school pupils, with controversial new assessments introduced and in some cases withdrawn through departmental error, such as the new key stage one spelling, punctuation and grammar (Spag) assessment.

“Do we now have the hokey cokey of assessment?” Johnson will ask. “You put the Spag test in, you put the Spag test out, you put it all online and wait for the children to shout: “I know the answer – what was the question? (http://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/apr/29/headteachers-union-chief-slams-government-over-academisation-policy )

Do you know where this ‘hokey cokey’ come from? Listen to the children’s song, watch the participation dance, and appreciate the originality of the stylistic device in the article.

The history of the song itself is also very interesting. Read about it at http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/03/frasers-phrases-the-curious-history-of-the-hokey-cokey