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The Kitchen Table

Phrase of the day 2/24

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

5 years ago

Á go-go

This phrase (“dancing á go-go” and the like) is borrowed from French. Meaning “in a fast or lively manner” originally, it has come to be loosely used as a sort of synonym for sophisticated, as in “á go-go boutique” or “go-go styles of dress.” It is thought to be a reduplication of the second syllable of the French word agogue, meaning “merriment.”

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Comments (3)

Annie Deighnaugh
5 years ago
I always thought it was related to music:

[Chuck] Brown didn’t just invent go-go, says Johnson, he reinvented what dance bands do. “It’s non-stop. We go from one song to the next to the next – there’s no break,” he says.

That’s where the name go-go derives – it’s music with a beat that just goes and goes. Percussive solos are its signature – conga drums, cowbells, timbales, anything with a beat. These transitions between songs turn into crescendos that keep the dance floor buzzing. “That was Brown’s genius,” says Johnson.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/14/washington-dc-go-go-music-hits-back-gentrification-sould-of-a-city
HU-681687602
5 years ago
Stacey_mb

Ah, yes, the go-go craze!
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Elmer J Fudd
5 years ago
Merriam Webster has a different source:

"after Whisky à Gogo, café and disco in Paris, France, from French whisky WHISKEY + à gogo "in abundance, galore,""

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