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Definitions ==> Miscellaneous Questions

Here Comes The Judge / Sock It To Me
I am a Japanese sqaure-dancer and unfortunately a non-native speaker of English. I have a quaestion for you. There are some calls whose literal meaning does not convey what to do. For instance, on "sock it to me", I was wondering what the word "sock" means. ON this call, the leftmost dancer initiates an outroll circulate while the rightmost one on "here comes the judege". I wonder if there is a good clue to remembering "left" on "sock it to me". Thank you for your kind reply.

I will answer your question first, and then I will explain the calls.
The word "sock" has two meanings in American English:
  1) A garment for the foot and lower part of the leg
     靴下
  2) A  hard blow or punch
     拳パンチ

This call has a very curious history. It was developed during the time that a particular television show was popular (Laugh-In). Laugh-In was a comedy show and contained many different skits that became a part of American culture. One of these skits used a "tag-line" (a catchphrase or slogan, or the punchline of a joke) of "Sock It To Me" and this meant that something was about to happen to the person who said it, like maybe they get hit with a bucket of water, or fall through a trap-door, or knocked on the head with a soft rubber or inflated hammer. (This is the 拳パンチ usage of the word "sock"). Another popular skit used the tag-line of "Here Comes The Judge". So these two calls were developed and named after this popular television show.

In America, dancers like to remember "Here Comes The Judge" by saying "The Judge is always RIGHT". This has meaning in America because a judge is the person that decides the penalty for crime, and the decisions made are deemed to be correct/right. In America, knowing that "Sock It To Me" is the opposite of "Here Comes The Judge" (because these two calls are so deeply related and ingrained in American culture), American dancers do not need to figure out a way to remember "Sock It To Me". They just know that it is the opposite of "Here Comes The Judge" (which is RIGHT), so "Sock It To Me" must be LEFT.

Perhaps for Japanese dancers, who do not have this cultural connection to the television show, you might be able to remember the difference in this way:
  • SOCK has four letters, like LEFT
  • JUDGE has five letters, like RIGHT

last modified: 19-February-2020   
ID: 805
  
  
  

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