Hooch

[carolynwhite2]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "Catlady (Rita Prince Winston)" 
<catlady at w...> wrote:
> 
> Kneasy wrote in 
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/the_old_crowd/message/1527 :
> 
> << (And why the hell is she called 'Hooch?' What's the
> connection?) >> 
> 
> She has yellow eyes like an Hedwig's. Maybe her name is reminiscent 
of
> owls' cliche hoot "Whooo hooo".
> 

Carolyn:
A few seconds searching our catalogue (which is coming on a treat, 
thanks for asking), turned up the following comprehensive response 
[40667] from Suzanne Chiles:

>>I looked up "hooch" in the OED and have discovered that use of the 
word
hooch in relation to alcoholic beverages is strictly an American 
invention.
Hooch originated in Alaska in the 19th century as a cheap, home-made, 
highly
intoxicating drink made from wheat and sugar. 

As for the prostitute slur, it is also of American derivation. 
Originally it was the name of a Black minstrel performer named 
Hootchy-Kootchy Rice. Over time, "hootchy-kootchy"
came to mean an erotic dance, which is probably how some may have 
interpreted over time to be connected to prostitution. 
<snip>
More likely, however, is the association with the British meaning of 
word, a very old meaning which is " An exclamation of excitement; the 
cry of a dancer of the Highland fling. Hence heuch v. intr., to utter 
this cry."<<<

Carolyn:
Both the hooker slang and Scottish dialect meanings can be confirmed 
on these sites:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/browse.php?word=hooch&x=5&y=11
http://www.scotsmagazine.com/wordsInside.asp

Incidentally, the Lexicon says that the trading cards list Hooch's 
first name as Rolanda, which according to a babyname directory I 
looked up, is a 3-syllable girl's name of Teutonic origin meaning: 
from the land of fame. JKR recently confirmed on her website that she 
wrote the information on the original Famous Wizard cards; whether 
this name was one of those originals, I don't know.

But as I turned up these various bits of info, another post caught my 
eye [24020]:

>>When Madam Hooch is looking at the broom, she mentions that she 
learned to fly on a Silver Arrow broom. Well, Silver Arrows were one 
of the last generation of artisan racing brooms, first made sometime 
between 1901 and 1926. Does that mean that Madam Hooch also dates to 
sometime between 1901 and 1926?<<

To which you replied, Rita [24027]:

>>Why not? <snip>
SS says: "Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, gray 
hair, 
and yellow eyes like a hawk."

I like for McGonagall and Hooch to be the same age, so either Hooch 
grayed younger or McGonagall IS dying her hair. I like for McGonagall 
to have been born in 1926 like Tom Riddle and therefore been one of 
Tom and Hagrid's classmates. However, Hooch was born in 1926 and the 
Silver Arrow was no longer made after 1926, it would have been an old 
used broom when she learned on it.<<

Well, we obviously can't tell when exactly when Hooch was born, but 
the broom evidence is interesting in placing her in possibly the same 
timeframe as McGonagall, Voldemort and Hagrid. One more person who 
knew exactly who Tom Riddle was, apart from Dumbledore.

Carolyn