An onomatopoetic expression of
running or other hurried activity, characteristic of traditional African and African
American narration. Occurs in Ralph
Waldo Ellison's "Invisible Man;" metrically identical with "imbili imbili," the formula used for the same purposes by African griots -- for example, Fa-Digi Sisoko's Son-Jara. Alternatively, "boogety boogety," "boogedy boogedy."