Entry · catalog no. 6205
pecking
/ /ˈpɛkɪŋ/ /PEK-ing
noun · Harlem, New York · 1930s
✓ Verified
1.
A 1930s dance built on a quick head-and-shoulder jab, like a bird pecking.
“The band hit it and the whole floor started peckin''.”
Origin & Attribution
Introduced at the Cotton Club in 1937 and fixed by the song Peckin'', recorded that March. Cab Calloway would run a small dance contest before the number each night. Named for the bird-like forward jab of the head — one more Harlem floor step that traveled out on record.
1937
Introduced at the Cotton Club; Peckin'' recorded in March
1937
Spreads nationally through big-band covers
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
The Northeast
Harlem, New York · 1930s
Spoken by
Harlem, New York
$PECKINThe Record · cultural traction
▲ Dormant89 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
28/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
First used
1937
in the culture
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@bxgriot
The Bronx, NY
@phillyanne
Philadelphia, PA
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See also