# What is the origin of the word hookey?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-hookey/137063>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 16, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-hookey/137063 "2002-11-16T20:46:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![makaii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@makaii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/makaii)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-hookey/137063/1 "2002-11-16T20:46:53Z")

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I recently was curious about the word hookey and was unable to get a good origin of the word. The online dictionaries all say the same thing, that it was short for “hook it”, which did not explain enough to me. Even though we all know what it means…to be absent without leave especially from school…I still want to know the true origin of the this simple word.

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**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-hookey/137063/2 "2002-11-16T21:00:32Z")

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From [this site](http://www.geocities.com/etymonline/h3etym.htm):

> [@](#):
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> **hooky** - 1848, Amer.Eng. (New York City), from Du. _hoekje_ “hide and seek,” or from hook it, 14c., “make off, run away,” originally “depart, proceed.”

The American Heritage Dictionary seems less sure:

> [@](#):
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> \*\*hooky \*\*
> 
> SYLLABICATION: hook·y  
> PRONUNCIATION: hk  
> NOUN: _Informal_ Absence without leave; truancy: _play hooky from school._  
> ETYMOLOGY: Perhaps from _hook it_, to make off.

[Another vote](http://www.internetnow.co.uk/dutchusa/nlusword.htm) for Dutch origins:

> [@](#):
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> **Hooky** This Americanism meaning to skip school probably derives from the Dutch _hoekje_, a name for the game of hide and seek

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**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\
**Post date:** [November 16, 2002, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-origin-of-the-word-hookey/137063/3 "2002-11-16T21:12:50Z")

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Lots of theories.

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> “Hookey” (also spelled “hooky”) apparently developed from the colloquial phrase “hooky- crooky” common in the early 19th century, which meant “dishonest or underhanded.” … “Hooky-crooky,” to return to our subject, came from “by hook or by crook,” meaning "by any means or tactic, fair or foul.  
> [http://www.word-detective.com/070599.html#hookie](http://www.word-detective.com/070599.html#hookie)

> [@](#):
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> This Americanism meaning to skip school probably derives from the Dutch hoekje, a name for the game of hide and seek.  
> [http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorh.htm#Hooky](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorh.htm#Hooky)

> [@](#):
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> Play hooky is probably derived from the Dutch term hoekje (spelen) ‘hide-and- seek’. …It’s also been suggested that play hooky comes from the verb hook, euphemistically meaning ‘to steal’, or from the phrase hook it, meaning ‘to escape, run away, make off’. These derivations are unlikely  
> [http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990923](http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19990923)