- pokey (adj.)
- 1849, "confined, shabby," later (1856) "slow, dull;" from poke (v.).
- pokey (n.)
- "jail," 1919, perhaps altered from pogie "poorhouse" (1891), of unknown origin.
- hokey-pokey
- 1847, "false cheap material," alteration of hocus-pocus. Applied especially to cheap ice cream sold by street vendors (1884).