Hooptie

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi, my name’s Jennifer, and I’m calling from Racine, Wisconsin.

Hi, Jennifer, welcome.

Hey, Jennifer, how are you doing?

Thank you. I’m doing well, thank you.

I’m hoping that you guys can settle a nine-year marital dispute over a word for me.

Nine years? Sure.

Well, that’s longer than most marriages last year.

Well, I have used the word hoopty to describe my 88 convertible RX-7 ever since I’ve owned it.

And my husband insists that I’ve made the word up.

Really?

Really.

Interesting.

We tried to Google it about four years ago, and we found one reference in an obscure urban online dictionary, and he said that wasn’t significant enough.

It wasn’t.

Now, how are you spelling it, Jennifer?

We tried to spell it two ways, H-O-O-P-D-E-E or H-O-O-P-T-Y.

Very interesting.

How old are you, Jennifer, if you don’t mind me asking?

I’m 44.

How old is your husband?

He is 47.

And what kind of car did you say this is?

It’s an 88 Mazda RX-7 convertible.

88.

Wow.

And you call it a hoopty.

Why?

What makes it a hoopty?

Well, my understanding of the word is that it’s like an unreliable or a jalopy.

You know, hop in the hoopty and go.

And it’s always been a term of affection for my car.

My car, I’ve never had a problem with it, but it needs some restoration work to it.

You go through a lot of duct tape.

Is that what you’re saying?

Well, more like it needs a new interior and it needs a new roof, that type of stuff.

Oh, okay.

So you’re not quite Flintstones peddling it yet, right?

No, not quite Flintstones yet.

Not at all.

We got in this discussion again last week, and I called it a hoopty in front of some friends.

And my husband went to take it to work last Friday because it was 70 degrees and beautiful.

And he got as far as the Wisconsin-Illinois state line and it died.

No hoopties in Illinois, huh?

Exactly.

They got a force field at the border.

Exactly.

Because it can’t come across the border.

So I think my car really didn’t like me insulting it.

Because I’ve always used it as a term of affection.

I’m going to prepare you to do linguistic battle with your husband.

All righty.

Don’t hurt him.

Just a little.

One year after that car was manufactured, in 1989, Sir Mix-a-Lot had a song called My Hooptie.

Have you never heard this song?

I have never heard that song.

It was big.

It was big.

Really?

My hooptie rolling, tailpipe dragging, heat don’t work or my girl keeps nagging, 6’9 Buick, deuce keeps rolling, one hubcap cause three got stolen.

Oh my God.

Sir Mix-a-Lot.

I have never heard it.

I’m going to go find it.

And he doesn’t much, and the video, you’ve got to go deal with the video on YouTube.

Because it’s old school hip hop.

I mean, it’s not that old, but it’s old enough and it’s kind of a low budget.

But these guys are clearly having a ball singing this song about their junker, their beater, you know?

Exactly.

But the term is older than 1989.

You can find this back to the 1960s.

Whoa.

But somewhere along the way, it changed.

In the 60s and 70s, a hoopty was just your car.

Sometimes your new car.

Sometimes your style and ride.

And then somewhere, say maybe early, mid-80s, it switched on the West Coast to mean your junker.

Like this hand-me-down car that 15 other people had owned.

Or the thing that your older brother ran into the ground and then gave to you when he got his nice new car.

That’s your hoopty.

Your beater.

It’s the thing that worked.

That’s it.

That’s the only qualification that it had.

That it runs.

And everything else about it is a mess.

Okay?

So the thing is, this term exists.

It is widespread.

And as a matter of fact, I would even say that in the 80s and the 90s, hoopty was so common that you probably could have used it amongst 20 and 30-year-olds.

And everyone would have understood what you meant.

This Sir Mix-A-Lot song is probably the point of popularity for a lot of people.

It’s the point at which they learned it.

It charted.

I mean, it was big enough to be played on commercial radio, and the video was in loops on MTV.

And it was referenced in other songs.

I’m really surprised that he hasn’t heard it.

Does your hoopty have a CD player?

It actually does.

It has a tape player and a CD player.

Okay, well, you know what your assignment is.

You go get…

You know what it is, right?

I definitely will.

Get the Sir Mix-A-Lot CD.

Don’t tell your husband.

Get in the car.

You’re in the driver’s seat.

Pop the disc in.

He’s sitting there.

He’s like, why are you waiting?

Why aren’t you going?

Turn the engine on.

Fire it up.

Play that song.

And then look at him and just sing along to the music.

I definitely will.

I definitely will.

I will let you guys know how my little mission goes over with him.

All right.

We will testify in the divorce proceedings.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

And trust me in the divorce.

I’m asking for the hoopty.

Thanks, Jennifer.

Good luck.

Thank you guys for having me on.

Bye-bye.

Okay, thanks, Jennifer.

Bye-bye.

We are here to solve your linguistic marital disputes.

Call us 877-929-9673, or we will arbitrate by email, words@waywordradio.org.

Hubcap cause three.