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- The phrase "play hooky" is a playful way to talk about avoiding responsibilities, especially school or work, without permission. It's like taking a secret mini-vacation when you're supposed to be somewhere else. This phrase has a mischievous ring to it, but it's usually not about serious rule-breaking.
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Apr 9, 2015 · hooky, hookey (n.) is part of an idiom, to play hooky, which means "to be truant, to hook {escape} school." Its plurals are hookeys or hookies, and neither is much used. Hooky was once slang, but it has lasted so well that it is now Standard in its idiom.
- Dictionary discussions of 'hookey' John Bartlett, Dictionary of Americanisms (1848) has entries for "hookey" and for a term that I suspect may be...
- UPDATE: @Old-School's answer sounds the most plausible (and most interesting), so I've marked it as the accepted answer. Since the phrase has been...
- I was told by my grandparents that at one time the Amish were called "Hookies". This was because they wore "hook and eye" closures instead of zipp...
- My father, born in 1914 in Ohio and lived in and around Detroit had told me that playing hooky was in reference to kids not going to school and g...
Dec 3, 2023 · In short: "Play hooky" refers to skipping school or work without a valid reason, often to do something more enjoyable. What Does “Play Hooky” Mean? The phrase "play hooky" is a playful way to talk about avoiding responsibilities, especially school or work, without permission.
to stay away from school or work without permission: The two boys played hooky so they could go to the concert in the city. The girls were playing hooky and got caught. He warned his students against playing hooky. I was joined by a lawyer friend who was playing hooky from work.
play hooky. To absent oneself or leave early from school or work when one would normally be required to be there. Primarily heard in US. I was so restless and bored at work that I decided to play hooky after lunch.
The expression 'to play hooky (or hookey),' meaning 'to skip school,' has been around since the 19th century. John Bartlett in his 1848 Dictionary of 'Frosh', 'cute', and 7 other words created at school
To play hooky and go nutting is far better than to study and fit himself for earning a livelihood. There was enough to do in town, and it wasn't fair for him to play hooky while Zarek worked alone. Play hooky definition: . See examples of PLAY HOOKY used in a sentence.
Jan 18, 2021 · HOOKEY. To play hookey, is to play truant. A term used among schoolboys. A use from an 1856 issue of Mother’s Magazine gives a slightly different definition of playing hooky, that is not coming directly home after school and instead getting into mischief.
