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Roke like Okra

Posted by Russ Cable on October 21, 2005

In Reply to: Roke like Okra posted by Roseanne on October 21, 2005

: My African American friends at work use a phrase which is something like "Roke like Okra". They are unsure of the meaning, except that it may mean something like "I'm going to beat you senseless" but they cannot come up with any true meaning. Can you tell me what it might mean and where it originated? Could it be an old slave saying or something along those lines?

I think the original form phrase is: I'll beat you til you roped like okra (or til you rope like okra).
This refers to the stripes ("lines" that go up the sides like the grooves on a rope).
One Google hit equates it to the strands (ropes) of goo that occur when you bite into a whole cooked okra, but that would be a severe beating indeed.
RRC

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