I never danced, but I remember "dipsy doodle" being a version of jitterbug or at least similar short-lived dance style.
(Bill Haley's ‘Dipsy Doodle’, for instance, was a cover of a Tommy
Dorsey track from 1937).
Yeah, that's similar to a post down in Weekly Themes. Is it possible the Great Anu made a mistake??
bartleby claims the source to be alteration of dipsy-do, baseball term to describe motion of a screwball, from dip.
I doubt it. My SWAG (= Stupid Wild Ass Guess) is that the baseball term sounds exactly like the sort of thing that would have been coined by Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean, who pitched in the 1930's. Dizzy was one of the all time greats and was also sensational in his quotability (e.g., "It ain't braggin' if you go out and do it.")
Of course, the next question would be whether the pitch was named for the dance, or vice versa.
Wordsmith or his helper saw it used as the sportswriters appropriated it, to describe erratic bounce of a football fumble. I took it for granted everyone would know I was commenting on TW.
"TW", bill? sorry, non comprende.
But it would seem that the sport referenced (whether or not it precedes the dance reference) is baseball, not (US) football.
TW = today's word? this from an avowed opponent of the undefined initialism; thereby proving his point, I suppose.
I never danced, but I remember "dipsy doodle" being a version of jitterbug or at least similar short-lived dance style. wwh
The song preceded the dance (such as it was) The dance preceded the sports allusion. Ask my Mom. Milum.