pronun. of "yahoo," [now 'to wahoo']

[William Salmon]

Is anyone familiar with the verb "to wahoo", meaning something like 'to
steal'?  More particularly, to steal beer?  As I understand it, it
refers to the act of an underaged person grabbing beer in a store and
running out past the counter without paying for it.  It was used pretty
commonly in south Texas where I grew up.

I don't recall ever having heard it used to describe the theft of
anything other than beer, and I'm not sure it could be used to describe
shoplifting--sneaking something under one's coat, etc.--or other kinds
of theft more commonly associated with the 8th commandment.

Google hits are pretty sparse, though UrbanDictionary has a relevant
entry:

"That clerk nearly shot us when we wahooed all that Molson's."

WS
> Is this still about "yee-ha?" and the Texas yell?
>
> Sam Clements
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 7:15 PM
> Subject: pronun. of "yahoo," n.
>
>
>> OED offers [jhu] only, which is the educated pronunciation.
>>
>>  IIRC, old westerns pronounce it [ 'je:hu: ], and, outside the classroom,
>> I have heard it so pronounced in the South.  I never heard it at all in
>> NYC, outside of the classroom.
>>
>>  JL
>>
>>
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>
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>



~Will Salmon

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