Hoochie coochie

The hoochie coochie was a sexually provocative belly dance term that originated at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition in 1876. It became wildly popular during and after the Chicago World's Fair in 1893. Described by the New York Journal in 1893 as "Neither dancing of the head nor the feet", it was a dance performed by women of, or presented as having, an Eastern European gypsy heritage, often as part of travelling sideshows. Gooch, goochie or gootchie was apparently already a term in the American South for a woman's vagina, and with "hooch" being a term for alcohol this could indicate "drunk vagina". Hoochie coochie has also been suggested as referring directly to sex.