Alley-Oop

[Page Stephens]

FYI

http://home.comcast.net/~cjh5801/Alley.htm

Page Stephens

----- Original Message -----
From: "Laurence Horn" <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Sent: Friday, April 08, 2005 10:58 AM
Subject: Re: Alley-Oop


> ---------------------- Information from the mail
> header -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at YALE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: Alley-Oop
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 5:52 AM -0700 4/8/05, Jonathan Lighter wrote:
>>In my limited experience, "ups-a-daisy" (sic) is more common.  Even
>>in the '50s, I'm pretty sure I heard "alley-oop" solely in old
>>movies.
>>
>>"Alley Oop" is best known, I think, as the name of a famous caveman.
>>
>>JL
>
> In some circles it's more widely known as a football and, more
> recently, basketball play.  I recall it first being applied to a pass
> play practiced by the San Francisco 49ers (football team), in which
> the quarterback (John Brodie?  Y. A. Tittle?) would heave it high
> into the end zone to R. C. Owens, who was quite tall and could reach
> over the heads of the defensive backs to pluck the ball out of the
> air.  That would have been in the late 50's/early 60's, I'm guessing.
> Later, it became used quite frequently in basketball and still is,
> again with a tall guy (there are a lot of them around in basketball)
> going up for the ball near the basket and someone passing it to him
> when he's at the top of his arc, so he can slam it down.  On ESPN
> they even distinguish between the "alley" (the pass) and the "oop"
> (the catch and slam).
>
> larry
>
>>
>>Benjamin Zimmer <bgzimmer at RCI.RUTGERS.EDU> wrote:
>>---------------------- Information from the mail header
>>-----------------------
>>Sender: American Dialect Society
>>Poster: Benjamin Zimmer
>>Subject: Re: Alley-Oop
>>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>On Fri, 8 Apr 2005 00:34:12 +0200, Christine Waigl wrote:
>>
>>>Benjamin Zimmer wrote:
>>>
>>>>Actually, Googling suggests that "allez hop" is a more common spelling
>>>>in
>>>>French than "...houp" ("allez hop" is also the form borrowed into German
>>>>and Dutch).
>>>
>>>I agree. I've never seen it spelled anything but "allez hop" in
>>>(contemporary) French.
>>>
>>>(A conflation with "(allez) ouste", maybe? "Allez" can stand on its own
>>>as an interjection.)
>>
>>Well, MWCD11 says it's a combination of French "allez" and English "-oop",
>>perhaps an alteration of "up". I don't see why it couldn't have derived
>>from "allez" + "houp", if those interjections were used in conjunction (as
>>in Conrad's "Allez! Houp!"). But if "allez hop" was more of a fixed
>>expression, then perhaps the final syllable was transformed to "oop" in
>>English renderings under influence from interjections like "houp(-la)",
>>"whoop", "oops-a-daisy", etc. I can see how there may have been secondary
>>influence from "up" (with "oop" as a dialectal form, as in "Oop North"?),
>>since the interjection was associated with lifting up things or people.
>>
>>Where's a philologically inclined French trapeze artist when you need one?
>>
>>
>>--Ben Zimmer
>>
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