Hooah !

[Wilson Gray]

In the '60's in L.A., "die-yow," also onomatopoetic for a gunshot, was
in very brief vogue as a slang term for "excellent": "Man, that chick
has some die-yow hips," wherein "hips" is a slang euphemism for
"buttocks." For some reason, the bruz tended to interpret "die-yow" as
an ordinary word. Naturally, if you do that, then the example sentence
has no discernable meaning. The hiperati tired of being asked what they
were talking about. So, this bit of slang died a-borning.

-Wilson Gray

On Aug 3, 2005, at 8:43 AM, Jonathan Lighter wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> Subject:      Re: Hooah !
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
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>
> So "booyah" seems originally to have been onomatopoeic for a gun blast
> ?
>
> I prefer "blammo !" (not in OED).
>
> JL
>
> "Mullins, Bill" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL> wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
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> Sender: American Dialect Society
> Poster: "Mullins, Bill"
> Subject: Re: Hooah !
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
> --------
>
> Airborne Rangers (Power Series) by Alan Landau
> Paperback: 128 pages
> Publisher: Motorbooks International (August 1, 1992)
> p. 7
>
> "Today's Rangers would say that Private Reed was "hooah" -- he had the
> Ranger spirit, a combination of confidence, competence, and
> enthusiasm."
>
>
>> "Booyah" is also part of the caveman-grunt family. Earliest
>> recovered cite seems to be from 1995. Civilians prefer this
>> one, especially while watching, playing, or preparing to
>> play football.
>>
>
> Do or Die by Leon Bing
> Paperback: 304 pages
> Publisher: Harper Perennial (May 20, 1992) p. 124 [there was a hardback
> edition in 1991]
> " "Now -- anyone puts on any color but white" -- he hoists the
> imaginary
> shotgun, squints down the barrel -- "Booyah! You dead." "
>
> I imagine that ESPN helped popularize this one -- it's one of their
> catch phrases/words.
>
> Pam Grier, in the 1997 film "Jackie Brown", used the term but
> pronounced
> it "Boo-yay".
>
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