Jukebox
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Ever wonder where the word "juke" came from?
juke also jook, Southeastern U.S.
A roadside or rural establishment offering liquor, dancing, and often gambling and
wild times. Also called juke house, juke joint.
juked, also jooked juk·ing, jook·ing jukes, jooks
1. To play dance music, especially in a juke.
2. To dance, especially in a juke or to the music of a jukebox.
[Probably from Gullah juke, joog, disorderly, wicked, of West African origin; akin to Wolof dzug, to live wickedly, and Bambara dzugu, wicked.]
Regional Note: Gullah, the English-based Creole language spoken by people of African ancestry off the coast of Georgia and South Carolina, retains a number of words from the West African languages brought over by slaves. One such word is juke, “bad, wicked, disorderly,” the probable source of the English word juke. Used originally in Florida and then chiefly in the Southeastern states, juke (also appearing in the compound juke joint) was an African-American word meaning a roadside drinking establishment that offers cheap drinks, food, and music for dancing. “To juke” is to dance, particularly at a juke joint or to the music of a
jukebox whose name, no longer regional and having lost the connotation of sleaziness, contains the same word.
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