A form of walking with
exaggerated movements or gestures. Usually a strange swagger or a false limp is employed, somtimes with one or both arms swinging. The purpose of the bop is to give the performer a tough or self confident image, and in the case of a limp, to suggest that he has been the victim of a shooting somewhere in his leg or waist. The more ridiclous looking the bop is, the bigger a pussy the person is likely to be. Laughing aloud at
one of these performers will usually be greeted with no more than a scowl or frown, known as a screwface. If you happen to get
in the way of a bop the performer may 'kiss his teeth' and may even attempt to barge past you. Do not hesitate to reprimand the performer, he is quite harmless. He may incinuate that he has a loaded pistol by cocking his fingers like a gun. It is unlikely.
Feel free to add more examples, these are examples I have witnessed -
the brixton slide - one leg walks almost normally while the other (usually
highlighted with a rolled up trouser leg)is swung by the hip, so that the foot drags along the floor.
the battersea clock bop- along with a strange swagger, one arm is swung in front of the body in a pendulum like motion from left to right, as if the performer is miming a walking
grandfather clock.
the Richmond hop - the performer takes three large steps, and on the fourth makes a small hopping movement. For example, he would take three steps, right foot, left foot, right foot, and instead of
going back to the left he propels himself into the air off the right, lands back on the right foot and plants the left to begin the sequence again. It sometimes resembles a sprinter warming down after a race.