dingolay

English

WOTD – 21 May 2020

Etymology

From Kongo dyengula (“to gyrate the waist while dancing”), possibly from French dégringoler (“to fall down, tumble”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪŋɡəʊleɪ/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪŋɡoʊleɪ/
• Hyphenation: din‧go‧lay

Verb

dingolay (third-person singular simple present dingolays, present participle dingolaying, simple past and past participle dingolayed)

1. (intransitive, Caribbean) To perform a kind of lively dance with hand movements.
   • 1937, Arnold Gingrich, editor, Esquire: The Magazine for Men, volume 8, Chicago, Ill.: Esquire, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 109; also quoted in Catherine A. Sunshine, “Caribbean Unity, the Frustrated Dream”, in The Caribbean: Survival, Struggle and Sovereignty, Washington, D.C.: EPICA, 1988, →ISBN, part 7 (In the Shadow of the Empire), page 224, column 1:

     Believe me, friends, if I were King / I'd marry any woman and give her a ring, / I wouldn't give a damn what the people say / So long as she can wash, cook, and dingolay. [Commenting on the abdication of Edward VIII.]

   • 1945, Glanville [Wyncoop] Smith, Many a Green Isle, London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, →OCLC, page 268:

     Hands clapped, feet tapped, bodies dingolayed.

   • c. 1970–1980, D. W. Rogers, Lalaja, a Tale of Retribution, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Frasers Printerie, →OCLC, page 164:

     "Madam, we have a way to say when somebody can walk well, we say they dingolay well." Pamela laughed. "You mean that Don … can dingolay well," Lalaja laughed.

   • 1994, Learie Alleyne-Forte, Jokers on the Abyss’ Edge: A Collection of Short Stories, San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago: Learie Alleyne-Forte, →OCLC, page 19:

     All he did was duck, and there he was, in Brazil, serenading in the moonlight, and round the campfire some women dancing samba and the music hot like fire. And everybody dingolaying. And same time somebody calling him, "Come, come. Trinidad on fire."

   • 1999, Elizabeth F. Watson, From “Ma Boy” to a King: John King, 1982–1998: An Annotated Discography of Popular Music from Barbados, Saint Michael, Barbados: Research Riddims, →ISBN, page 96:

     Inez come leh we jam for Crop Over Festival, come leh we dingolay

   • 2010, Annette Osborne, “Roses for Grandma”, in … As a Tale That Is Told, [Bloomington, Ind.]: Xlibris, →ISBN, section 5 (Jascmin), page 139:

     The crowd was wild as she "dingolayed" to get the attention of the male lead singer.

   • 2013, Eric G. Flett, “Dingolayin’: Theological Notes for a Caribbean Theology”, in Garnett Roper, J. Richard Middleton, editors, A Kairos Moment for Caribbean Theology: Ecumenical Voices in Dialogue, Eugene, Or.: Pickwick Publications, Wipf and Stock, →ISBN, page 72:

     It is this creature [the human being], peculiarly constituted and uniquely called, that God dingolays and improvises with, in order to draw the created order toward its liberating telos. Human dingolaying in the image of God, participating in the divine melody, is a cultural task; it is a task for theologians and laypersons from every cultural context, [...]

   • 2013 February 6, Kevon Felmine, “Odel retains King of the Rock title”, in Trinidad and Tobago Guardian‎^[1], Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago: Trinidad Pub. Co., →OCLC, archived from the original on 21 May 2020:

     Lichorich put on a performance that antagonised the crowd, who shouted profanities as he constantly dingolayed around the ring in a bid to avoid confrontation with Ralph.

Translations

to perform a kind of lively dance with hand movements

Anagrams

• gonydial