rebel yell and yeehaw

[Jonathan Lighter]

Just got back from a living-room screening of John Ford's Civil War
movie _The Horse Soldiers_ (1960).

The rebel yell here is emphatically "Yow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Yow! Ow!" etc.

Nary a "yee-hah" to be heard.

Even when people are whoopin' up their horses, they yell "Yah! Yah!"

Not "yee-hah!"

JL



On Sun, Mar 18, 2012 at 5:56 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject:      Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> A poetic description by novelist, poet, and former Union officer John W. De
> Forest (from "After the War," 1902):
>
> I think it might be fine to hear
>
> Their whoop again, - their panther yell:
>
> No trained hurrah, no classic cheer,
>
> But savage whoops of wold and fell;
>
> A cry of wolves in hunting bout,
>
> And yet a stirring, martial shout.
>
>
> That sounds to me like howling and war-whooping, not yee-hawaing.
>
>
> JL
>
> On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Geoff Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu
> >wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       Geoff Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> > Subject:      Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> >
> >
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > It's a homophone of the scientific name for 'blood cell'.
> >
> > Geoffrey S. Nathan
> > Faculty Liaison, C&IT
> > and Professor, Linguistics Program
> > http://blogs.wayne.edu/proftech/
> > +1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
> > +1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics)
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > >
> > > What does "Corpsal" mean?
> >
> > pretty clearly, 'having to do with the (Marine) Corps'.
> >
> > but how is it pronounced?
> >
> > arnold
> >
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