Sound Effects

Why do we have sound effects? (Note: also termed "Fluff" in some clubs.)

(From an article by Allan Hurst on http://www.danceinfo.org)

Generally, sound effects enhance the fun dancers derive from a specific call through humor. Sometimes, sound effect are used to "spice up" what have become otherwise routine calls for experienced dancers who are feeling bored.

Granted, this type of information isn’t essential to square dancing or calling, but they are fun, and have become highly ingrained in gay square dance culture. Sometimes, sound effects are useful for students or new dancers as mnemonics for the calls themselves.

For example, Mike DeSisto is well known for calling a novelty tip in which he only vocalizes the sound effects for a series of calls, rather than using the calls themselves...and the dancers who know the sound effects seem to have no problems at all remembering which call to perform. (For example … “Quack! Squeak!” would translate to “Acey-Deucey, Hinge”)

Guide to Dance "Fluff" from Rosetown Ramblers

In 2009, Rosetown Ramblers published an article which discusses not just sounds but also many of the styling movements associated with certain calls.

The article is called Want to “Fluff” With Me? Sounds and movements frequently used by Rosetown Ramblers.

List of Popular Sound Effects

This list of popular sound effects was originally compiled by Paul Asente of the El Camino Reelers, origin date unknown. Additions have been made to the wiki version of this list by other people.

BASIC

All 8 Circulate: "All-8, all-8"

Allemande Left: Clap hands

Bend the Line: "Get Bent!"

Chain Down the Line: "Chain me down, chain me down!"

VARIANT: "chain me, whip me, beat me!"

Couples Circulate: "Circles Copulate"

Dive Thru: "Dive, dive"

VARIANT: "A-oo-ga" (submarine diving noise)

Double Pass Thru: "DPT!"

Ferris Wheel: "Wheeee" (As end turns center under arm during turn)

Flutterwheel: "Whoop, whoop, whoop"

Ladies Chain: (at C1 & above) Balance and whoop in the center, and eliminate Courtesy Turn

Ladies In, Men Sashay: Ladies whoop it up

Move Up to the Middle and Back: "Moooo"

Pass the Ocean: "Splash!"

VARIANT: Clap hands

Promenade Halfway: Inactives do a "Highland Fling" style Do Si Do)

VARIANT: Inactives do a ballroom dance turn

VARIANT: Inactives make circle, do 2 hip bumps with opposite

Reverse the Flutter: "Pow, pow, pow"

VARIANT: "Leehw Rettulf"

Right and Left Grand: Balance and slap L hands when meeting someone with the R hand

Right and Left Thru: "Thank you"

VARIANT: "Thank you" then "You're welcome"

VARIANT: (as a sequence opener at Challenge) "We can do that"

Shoot the Star: "Bang!"

Square Thru: (as a sequence opener, done by heads or sides) Inactives do 2 California Twirls

Stars (during singing call figures (not breaks)): "Aaaaughhh!!!!!!" (making a scream of despair)

Sweep 1/4: (Sweeping motion towards the floor with free hand.)

Swing Thru: "Schwing!"

Touch 1/4: (Touch forehead with free hand)

VARIANT: Touch forehead and say "Doh!" a la Homer Simpson

Trade By: "Bye!" (wave goodbye as you pass or trade)

U-Turn Back: "Baaa"

Veer to the Left/Right: "Vera!"

Wheel and Deal: "Wheeling" then "Dealing"

VARIANT: "...and squeal"

Zoom: "ZZZOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!"

MAINSTREAM

Centers Cross Run: "Mee..." (see Mix)

Cloverleaf: Spread arms, act like a child playing airplane

Dixie Style to a Wave: "Hi, Dixie!"

VARIANT: "Hey, Dixie!"

VARIANT: "Ditsy style"

Eight Chain Thru: "Bor-ring!"

Hinge: "Creak"/make creaking noise

Recycle: "Trash"

Scoot Back: Scooters grunt

Scooters squeal if girls

Non-scooters say "Go Girl!" if girls scooting

Slide Thru: "Whoosh" while gracefully sliding arms out to the sides

Spin the Top: "Spin the Top"

VARIANT: "Spin the Top" then "He's no top" (and on, and on...)

VARIANT: "Spank the Bottom!"

VARIANT: "189"

VARIANT: (from LH waves) "981"

Tag the Line: (Trailer taps leader on shoulder) "You're it!"

PLUS

(Anything) and Spread "You Betcha!"

Acey Deucey: "Quack" (also if cued)

Acey Deucey and Spread: "The higher priced spread"

VARIANT: "I can't believe it's not butter!"

Chase Right: "Chase me, chase me!"

VARIANT: "I'm chased"

VARIANT: "I'm chaste! I'm chaste!"

Coordinate: "Your shoes don't match your bag!"

VARIANT: "No, No, Yes!" (while pointing to the people you pass for the Circulate once and a half)

Crossfire: Machine gun noises

Cut the Diamond: "Hai-ahhh!"

VARIANT: "Hiya!"

Diamond Circulate: Clap hands

Dixie Grand: "Right! Left! Right!"

VARIANT: "Right! Wrong! Right!"

Explode: "Boom!"

Fan the Top: "With a big left hand"

VARIANT: (from LH waves) "With a big wrong hand"

VARIANT: Fan yourself with the outside hand

Flip the Diamond: Flip hands up to shoulders, squeal

Follow Your Neighbor: "Hi, neighbor!"

VARIANT: "Shazam!" (Note: because it is equivalent to the C2 call "Shazam"...)

Grand Swing Thru: "Ain't it grand?"

VARIANT: Make "Tarzan swinging through trees" sound

Linear Cycle: "Hinge, fold, pass [or follow], peel"

VARIANT: "Hinge, hold, pass, feel"

VARIANT: "Hinge, fold, cop a feel"

VARIANT: "Blah, blah, blah, blah"

VARIANT: "Hinge, fold, Mister Popeil"

Load the Boat: "Toot, toot"/"Whoo, whoo"

VARIANT: Make a tugboat whistle sound

VARIANT: "Elian, Elian!"

Partner Tag: Snap fingers

Peel Off: "Rice!"

Peel the Top: (from a Z) "What a surprise!"

Ping Pong Circulate: Clap hands

Relay the Deucey: "Girl on, boy off, girl on, boy off" (regardless of the initial position)

VARIANT: "Hey, Lucy!" in a Desi Arnaz voice

VARIANT: "Hey Deucey!" in a Desi Arnaz Voice

VARIANT: (when finishing the last part of the call) "Hey, Lucy, I'm HOOOOOOME!"

VARIANT: (when finishing the last part of the call) "Hey, Deucey, I'm HOOOOOOME!"

Remake the Thar: "Quarter! Half! Three-quarters!"

Teacup Chain: Morose grumbling

VARIANT: Wild cheering

Track Two: "Track, track"

VARIANT: "Toot, toot"/"Whoo, whoo"

VARIANT: "Track, track, whoopee, whoopee"

VARIANT: "Toot, toot, whoopee, whoopee"

Trade and Roll: "Troll!"

VARIANT: "Troll Hole"

Trade the Wave: (at Advanced and above) "Wave"

Triple Scoot: "Rooty-toot-toot!"

(when first getting into a diamond for the first time of the night) "I see it!"

ADVANCED

All 4 Couples Right and Left Thru: "I LOVE this call!"

VARIANT: "We HATE this call!"

Anything and Cross: Snarl crossly

Cast a Shadow: Hingers whoop

Non-whoop-ees shout "Rats!"

Those casting back do elaborate over-the-shoulder arm sweep

Shadower raises arms, stalks the person being followed

VARIANT: "Casta Diva"

Chain Reaction: "Hinge, fold, pass, feel"

VARIANT: "Hinge, fold, cop a feel!"

Double Star Thru: "Bing, bang"

Half Breed Thru: Indian-style whoo-whoo-whoo

Horseshoe Turn: "Ah choo!"

VARIANT: "Ah choo!" then "Bless you"

VARIANT: "Ah, shit!"

VARIANT: "Horse shit!"

VARIANT: "Horse shoes!"

In Roll Circulate: (person circulating across the set) "Me!"

VARIANT: (anybody other than the person circulating across the set) "Not Me!"

VARIANT: (person circulating across the set) "Taxi!" (Attributed to [Chi Town Squares])

VARIANT 2014: (person circulating across the set) "Uber!" / "Lyft!"

Lock It: "Click"

Mini Busy: "...but few are chosen"

VARIANT: "...my peas are frozen!"

Mix: "Meow" (also if cued, then "Me" on the Cross Run, and "Ow" on the trade)

Motivate: "I don't want to"

VARIANT: "Don't wanna"

Out Roll Circulate: (person circulating down to the end of the wave) "Me!"

VARIANT: (anybody other than the person circulating down to the end of the wave) "Not Me!"::VARIANT: "Taxi!" (Attributed to [Chi Town Squares])

VARIANT 2014: "Uber!" / "Lyft!"

Pass and Roll: "Pass the rolls?"

VARIANT: "Casserole!"

VARIANT: Original centers slap floor twice after turning around)

Pass Out: Do a mock faint

Pass the Sea: "Wheee!"

Peel and Trail: "Peeling" then "Trailing"

VARIANT: "Trailers always trade"

Scoot and Weave: "Scooting" then "Weaving"

Scoot Chain Thru: "Work, work, work"

VARIANT: "Work, work, work" then "Bitch, bitch, bitch"

VARIANT: "Shop, shop, shop"

VARIANT: "Work, Shop, Play"

VARIANT: "Work, Shop, F*ck"

VARIANT: "F*ck, S*ck, Wash Up!"

Step and Slide: "Scratch and Sniff"

Swap Around: Belles mime slapping opposite beau's face

Switch: "Swish!"

Trade Circulate: (from 2-faced lines) "Ding, ding" then "He's not here"

Transfer the Column: "Where do you want it?"

Triple Star Thru: "Bing, bang, bong"

Wheel Thru: Clap

CHALLENGE 1

Ah So: "Wahoo"

Alter the Wave: "Walter!"

VARIANT: "No little waves here!"

Butterfly: Flutter arms gracefully

Checkover: "...the children, Lucille"

VARIANT: "The chitlins"

Counter Rotate: "Big one"

VARIANT: (from columns) "Why bother?"

Cross and Turn: Beaus go "Bang!"

Cross Chain and Roll: "Bagels"

Cross Chain Thru: "No bagels"

Dixie Sashay: Do air kisses during Slither

Linear Action: "Starts with a hinge"

Make Magic: "Poof" as you flick fingers in conjuring gesture

O: Raise hands above head to form an O

VARIANT: "Oh"

Pass the Axle: "Who are you calling an axle?"

VARIANT: "Don't turn the star!"

VARIANT: "Ouch!"

Percolate: "Olate, olate"

VARIANT: (on Turn Thru or Cross) "Ole!"

Ramble: "Rambo!"

Relay the Shadow: see Cast a Shadow

Reverse Cross and Turn: Belles go "Gnab!"

Reverse Explode: "Moob!"

Rotary Spin: Make buzzing sound

VARIANT: "Buzz"

VARIANT (Vancouver, BC): "Fuzzy Boo Boos"

Scatter Scoot: "Scatterbrains"

Scoot Back (as part of something else, e.g. in Tag Back to a Wave)

VARIANT: "Back, back!"

Square Chain the Top: "Top, top, top"

Square the Bases: "With smiling faces"

VARIANT: Do a grotesquely fixed grin

VARIANT: "Touch me" on each pull-by, then "Don't touch me!" or "No touching!" when passing shoulders

VARIANT: "Shoulders" when passing shoulders, while elaborately making a show of avoiding contact with the other dancer

VARIANT: "Don't turn the star!"

Squeeze the Butterfly: "Yuck!"

Squeeze the Galaxy: "All those people!"

Stretch Ah So: "Oooh!"

Stretch: Yawn and stretch arms

Swing the Fractions: "Quarter! Half! Three quarters! Half! Quarter!"

Tally Ho: "Yoicks!"

VARIANT: "Who're you calling a 'tally'?"

VARIANT: "Who're you calling a 'ho'?"

Triple Cross: "Bang, bang, bang!"

Wheel Fan Thru: "Wheel your fanny!"

VARIANT: "It's no biggie"

VARIANT: "Nice fanny!"

Zing: (sung on a high, usually off-key, note) "Laaaa!"

CHALLENGE 2

Bounce the ____: Jumps up and down

Chisel Thru: "In! Out! In!" or "In! In!! In!!!" as appropriate

Criss Cross the Shadow: see Cast a Shadow

Criss Cross Your Neighbor

VARIANT: Trailing ends whoop in the middle

VARIANT: "Rats!" if your're not a trailing end

Cross Ramble: "Rambo, and he's cross!"

Cross the K: "Dot the i"

Drop In: "Anytime!"

File to a Line: "Spread 'em!"

Flip Your Neighbor: Make obscene hand gesture

Funny: "Ha" (for each facing person you pass through with)

Here Comes the Judge: Right hand dancer: "Right!" or "Judge!" or "I go!"

VARIANT: "The judge is always right"

Hocus Pocus: "Oh oh"

Hubs Trade Back: "Hubba, hubba"

VARIANT: "Hubbing!"

Invert 1/2: "Two!"

Invert 3/4: "Four thirds!"

Kick Off: "Ouch!" while acting like you were just kicked in the butt

Little More: "Morons"

(anything) Motivate: "ivate", e.g. "Trade-ivate" or "Out-roll-tivate"

Perk Up: "Up, up"

VARIANT: "Up, up, whatever that means"

VARIANT: "Up, Chuck"

(anything) Perk Up: " up", e.g. "Trade up" or "Stack up"

Reverse Flip/Cut the Galaxy: "Thank you!"

Rims Trade Back: "Rimming"

Single Cross and Wheel: "No trade"

Sock It To Me: Left hand dancer: "Left!" or "Sock!" or "Left sock!" or "I go!"

Stagger Circulate: Stagger

Swing Along: "La, la, la" along with the music

Unwrap the Diamond: (leading point) "Apres moi!"

With the Flow: "She's not here" (Flo)

...to a Diamond (from appropriate t-bone) "But you won't get one"

CHALLENGE 3A

Beau Hop: "Bozo"

Belle Hop: "Belle-zo"

Bias Circulate: "How much?"

VARIANT: "Buy a vowel"

VARIANT: "I'm biased" or "I'm not biased"

Breaker 3: "Break her knee"

VARIANT: "Tonya Harding"

VARIANT: "Galooli!"

Catch N: (after the anything) "There's a catch"

Chain Thru: "She's not here" (unless you have Jane at the dance, then "She's here")

Checkerboard Mix: "Sounds like dog food"

Cross: Snarl crossly

Cross Swap the Top: "Angry dead fish"

Mirror Cross Swap the Top: "Angry shiny dead fish"

Drift Apart: "Split ends"

Ease Off: "Laaa!" (ends) or "Wahoo!" (centers)

Expand the Column: "Flip out!"

Explode the Top: (when last person joins the star) "'(name)'s our hero"

Extender's Dilemma: "Rice or potatoes?"

Flipper's Delight: "Tuna!"

VARIANT: "Getting scrod"

Flipper's Dilemma: "Eat fish or save Timmy?"

Follow the Leader: "Mooooo"

the Gamut: "Dammit!"

Interlocked Little, Plenty, etc: "INNNN-terlocked"

VARIANT: "Shut up Frank"

Keep Busy: "I am busy"

Locker's Choice: "Near the showers"

Mirror Swap the Top: "Shiny dead fish"

Plan Ahead: "Where DOES that nose go?"

VARIANT: "I want one with a moustache!"

Quarter the Deucey: "Poor deucey"

VARIANT: "Chop chop"

Reach Out: "Chouting"

VARIANT: "Wocka, wocka"

Recoil: "Reeking; coiling"

VARIANT: "Reeking; oiling"

Scoot and Fancy: "Sid and Nancy"

VARIANT: "Ron and Nancy"

Scoot the Diamond: "What diamond?"

Snap the Lock: Snap fingers when doing partner tag

Something New: "I've done this before"

VARIANT: "Learn to dance!"

Spin Chain the Line: "Del loves this call"

Spin the Pulley: "No butts? What holds their legs on?"

Swap the Top: "Dead fish"

Stable: Giggle insanely

Tagger's Delight: "A blank wall"

Tagger's Dilemma: "Spray paint or Magic Marker?"

Team Up: "Bo knows!"

Trade the Deucey: "Quack"

Triple Play: "Hey, hey, hey!"

VARIANT: "Smarter than the average bear"

CHALLENGE 3B

Boomerang: "Zoomerang"

Change the Centers/Wave: "Into what?"

Fan: "Waive the trade"

Gee Whiz: "Cheese Whiz"

VARIANT: "Whizzing!"

Lift Off: "Hasta la vista, baby"

VARIANT: "Bye" or "Buh-bye!"

Reactivate: "O vate, Pavel"

Reverse the Pass: "Baby, baby, hey"

Reverse the Top: "Fan that puppy"

VARIANT: "981"

VARIANT: "Pot"

VARIANT: "420"

Scramble: "Choo, ah"

Single Ferris Wheel: "IIIIIIII"

Stimulate the Column: "Yes, yes, YES!"

Take 2: "They're small"

Take 3: "They're very small"

Take 4: "They're itsy-bitsy"

CHALLENGE 4

Bits and Pieces: "Kibbles and bits"

Cross Horseshoe Turn: "Choo, Ah"

Curli-Wheel: "Hear them squeal"

VARIANT: "Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk"

Make a Pass: "Hey, babe"

Settle Back: "Set O Back"

Notes

How are sound effects created?

(From an article by Allan Hurst on http://www.danceinfo.org)

Have you ever wondered how sound effects are created, or who created them, or why?

If you've been dancing or calling for any length of time, you've probably heard sound effects for many square dance calls, such as:

"Whoosh!" (Slide Thru)

"Fuzzy boo-boos!" (Rotary Spin; Vancouver BC variant)

"Whoop! Whoop!" (Track II)

"Hinge, Fold, Pass, Peel" (Linear Cycle)

"…Big Deal” (Sandie Bryant's usual retort to "Hinge, Fold, Pass, Peel")

"My peas are frozen!" (Mini Busy, West Coast variant)

"Scratch and sniff!" (Step & Slide, West Coast variant)

After a fair amount of informal research, I believe most popular sound effects are created and spread spontaneously. One person starts a sound effect, one or two observers note the effect and like it, so they begin using it, and as others notice, general usage increases. (Much like that annoying series of shampoo commercials many years ago "...and THEY tell two friends - and so on, and so on, and so on...") Each sound effect has its own story of origin.

I happened to be present at the time and place a relatively recent sound effect - "My peas are frozen!" (for the A2 call,"Mini Busy") - came into being.

The origin of “My Peas Are Frozen!”

In July of 1999, at the IAGSDC Convention in Los Angeles, I was dancing in the C1 hall with Joe & Jenny Dadek from Stanford Quads. We three tend to be a bit boisterous when we're having fun (who, me?). The C1 room and the other dancers were fairly quiet during that particular session, as it was early in the morning. Joe, Jenny and I were getting bored (always a dangerous thing).

At one point, the caller said, "Mini Busy". The usual sound effect for Mini Busy (up to that point) was "But few are chosen". (As in, "Many are called, but few...") So … Joe and Jenny and I all enthusiastically yelled out "But Few Are Chosen!" and kept dancing.

The room was quite chilly (its air-conditioning having been adjusted to handle more people than were actually present). Jenny was wearing open-toe sandals, and the caller began moving us around very quickly. Eventually, Jenny started complaining to Joe and I how cold her feet had become. This happened to coincide with the caller calling "Mini Busy". Intending to say, "my toes are frozen!" Jenny later told us she unconsciously echoed "But few are chosen", and blurted out "My peas are frozen!" (None of the three of us ever figured out why Jenny mixed up "toes" and "peas". Some things are beyond analysis, and rightfully so.)

Jenny looked at me. I looked at Joe. He looked at Jenny. And the three of us (and one or two others in the square) started laughing, because it was that kind of a fast-and-furious square, and we were having fun, and it was such an obscure and bizarre non-sequitur that we found it hysterically funny at the time.

The next time the caller used "Mini Busy", we yelled out "Our peas are frozen!" and started laughing again. Eventually, the crazy mood of our trio spread to others in our square, and soon we were all yelling, "Our peas are frozen!" at the appropriate moment. To the visible relief of the caller on stage, the dance session came to an end just about that time, and we all dispersed to other squares and other rooms and activities.

The next day, in the A2 hall, I heard someone else say, "My peas are frozen!" This intrigued me, since the person voicing the sound effect hadn't been in the C1 room with Jenny and Joe and me. After convention, I kept on using the sound effect at local dances and club nights in the SF Bay Area, as did Joe and Jenny.

• Later that month, I was dancing to Anne Uebelacker, who called "Mini Busy.” I automatically yelled, "My peas are frozen!" She stopped the music, leaned over the table and looked at me, and said "Beg pardon?" I repeated, "My peas are frozen!" She winced, said that sounded a bit painful, giggled, and then kept calling. A couple of other dancers took up the sound effect the next time she called "Mini Busy." Anne just rolled her eyes at me and said nothing further at the time.

• In August of 1999, during Seattle’s annual fly-in, I heard dancers from Seattle and Portland echoing the sound effect. None of them had been in the C1 room at Convention, but a couple of dancers seemed to remember hearing the sound effect in the A2 room at Convention!

• In late 1999, it was reported to me that Anne was teaching the sound effect to her A1/A2 class in Vancouver BC. By now, the effect had spread through both my A&C home clubs (El Camino Reelers and Midnight Squares) and their associated classes. Grant Ito (Squares Across the Border) reported to me that he'd heard it used by dancers in Squares Across the Border during several club dances.

• By November of 1999, during Squares Across the Border's "Weave The Rain" November fly-in in Vancouver BC, dancers from all up and down the West Coast were using "My peas are frozen!".

• At the July 2000 IAGSDC Convention held in Baltimore MD, I heard dancers from the Midwest and East Coast using "My peas are frozen!" on the dance floor.

• By the end of 2000, Anne Uebelacker herself had added a variation. When she called "2/3rds Mini Busy", she suggested that the dancers yell back, "My peas are mooshy! (Ewww!)"

…so, THAT’S where sound effects come from?

Based on the above experiences, it doesn't seem unreasonable to suggest that most sound effects are propagated via one of the following four channels:

• usage (by a dancer or caller) during a local club night/dance
• usage during a fly-in
• usage by angels or being taught by a caller during a local class
• usage during a Convention

As a result of documenting the above anecdote, I’ve become interested in collecting stories regarding the origins of square dance sound effects. If enough people send me information on their favorite sound effects, you may see another article on origins of sound effects!