In the staff report on the remarkable behavior of bird flocks in flight (http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mflockswoop.html), the submitter refers to the flocks as sometimes “hanging a Louie.” I hail from the west coast and have never heard that term, so I presume it’s a regionalism. Because it sounds like “hanging a 'U’ey,” a term I have heard, it makes me think the term might refer to making a U-turn, but I’m not so sure.
And speaking of words or terms used casually that I’ve never heard before, I heard someone recently refer to “Kimbies” in a context I’m pretty sure meant they were diapers. I’ve never heard of Kimbies before, so I assume it was either a regionalism or an anachronism.
All of this sort of reminds me of the whole soda/pop/coke phenomenon.
Oh, and sure I could pop over to Google and probably find out more on this stuff, but I thought it might be fun to offer it up for comment too.
Similarly, I’ve heard “tossing (or throwing) someone a Louie” to refer to the act of offering someone your left hand for a handshake (unless your right hand is burdened, missing, gooey, or otherwise unshakeable). Usually with a small amount of derision for their total inability to grasp the basics of the handshake.
Just a guess, but it’s probably nothing more than the letter “L” – “Louie” as a slang for “Lefty”.
It’s Cockney rhyming slang. Huey Cort was a famous boxer from Swindon back in the 1920s. He was left-handed, and the phrase “Louis Port” arose to describe things that tended to the left (port being the opposite of starboard). Naturally, that got shortened to “Louis,” or alternatively spelled “Louie.” Hence, our modern phrase “hanging a Louie” means “turning left” and okay I’m sorry I can’t maintain the charade any more I made this all up.
Although it wasn’t entirely common where I grew up (north central Midwest U.S.), my friends and I used to refer to dead end residential roads with the turn around area as Louies. (I think they’re more commonly known as Cul De Sacs) More often, though, hang a Louie, to me at least, would refer to taking a left turn. Strangely enough, we never had an interesting word for taking a right.
In the Boston area, we tended to use “hang a left” or “hang a right”. For some reason, making a 180 degree turn was to “bang a U-ie” (pronounced You-ee".
There was also the phrase “hawking a louie”, which involved the by-products of a nasty cold. I won’t get into the details for those with weaker stomachs, but it wouldn’t be out of place in a Jean Shepherd short story.
When I was growing up, we called that “hanging a Ralph”. I’m not certain, but I think that might’ve just been something we made up to go along with the “Louie” thing.
Of course at the time, I was under the impression that we made up the “Louie” thing too.
I entered high school in 1975 in Texas, and first heard “hang a Louie” shortly thereafter. I’m not sure if it was new then or if I heard it because I was just then coming to the age when I would hear it. At the same time, I leared “hang a Ralph” for turning right, and “hang a u-ie” for a U-turn.
Oh, and the phrase “hock a loogie” is “hock,” not “hawk,” at least around here. Of course, I can tell because we pronounce those words differently, and maybe you don’t.
It was common parlance here (Kansas City area) as well twenty years or so ago, so it must have come from a common source, or your friends and mine just think too much alike.
I heard that there is a “Detroit Louie.” Since it’s so difficult to make a left turn in Detroit (only Detroit?), SOP is to go straight ahead, make a U-turn, and then a right turn, a maneuver called a Detroit Louie.
Good one! I was just about to launch a search, as I was moderately sure you were misinformed.