Making Whoopee

[Dave Wilton]

I associate it with the TV game show "The Newlywed Game." That's the stock
phrase they used to get by the '60s/'70s-era Standards and Practices
Departments. It's old-fashioned, but not quite Bette Davis old.


-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU]On Behalf
Of Joanne M. Despres
Sent: Wednesday, March 20, 2002 2:12 PM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: Making Whoopee


The "behaving amorously" sense was the only one familiar to me,
for what it's worth.  I checked some recent M-W citations (from the
past 20 years or so) and found only three uses of the expression,
all of them carrying the sexual connotation.

I suppose it does strike me as a bit old-fashioned.  I associate its
use with people like the elderly Bette Davis, whose character used
the phrase in "On Golden Pond."

Joanne Despres
Merriam-Webster