hoo-ha as euphemism

[Wells Darla L]

The Pussycat Dolls in their song "Beep" are using calling it a "ha-ha":

Do you know that I know?
And I don't want to go there

Only want
Only want my ha, ha-ha
Ha, ha-ha
Only want what they want
But, na, ah-ah
Na, ah-ah



On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 09:05:52 -0800, Arnold M. Zwicky wrote
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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Arnold M. Zwicky" <zwicky at CSLI.STANFORD.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: hoo-ha as euphemism
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> On Feb 14, 2007, at 7:54 AM, Amy West wrote:
>
> > Related to the  the "fanny" topic, I've just twice now heard "hoo-ha"
> > used as a euphemism for vagina.
> >
> > 1) Kristin Chenowyth on _Ellen_ telling Ellen de Generes to sing from
> > her "hoo-ha." Ellen was evidently unfamiliar with this term by her
> > reaction.
> >
> > 2) As reported on "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me", a Florida town
> > renaming "The Vagina Monologues" "TheHoo-ha Monologues."
> >
> > I'm told Urban Dictionary says it's East Coast, but I'm skeptical.
>
> UDict entries for "hoohaa", "hooha", "hoo-haa", and "hoo-ha".
>
> UDict doesn't actually *say* things; it just relays what people send
> in.  in this case, someone from chicago called it an east coast
> expression.  it's likely that the poster heard it first from east
> coast people and reasoned that it must be an east coast thing.  this
> kind of regional assignment is notoriously inaccurate.
>
> (from Ben Zimmer)
>
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/12/theater/12mono.html
>
> What's in a Name? Controversy
> By LAWRENCE VAN GELDER
> Published: February 12, 2007
>
> Under ordinary circumstances, the opening of "The Hoohaa Monologues"
> on Thursday at the Atlantic Theaters in Atlantic Beach, Fla., near
> Jacksonville, would not attract much attention. But "The Hoohaa
> Monologues" by any other name is Eve Ensler's Obie Award-winning,
> internationally performed play, "The Vagina Monologues."
>
> Last week, after a complaint from a passing driver who became upset
> because her niece had seen "vagina" on the theater marquee, Bryce
> Pfanenstiel of the Atlantic said, "We decided we would just use child
> slang for it," News4Jax.com reported. Down came "The Vagina
> Monologues." Up went "The Hoohaa Monologues."
>
> But two days later, on Thursday, in response to a demand from the
> organizers of the production, the original title was restored. The
> organizers are a group of Florida Coastal School of Law students who
> insisted that the original title be displayed because they had rights
> to the play only if they refused any censorship.
>
> "Vagina is the essence of a woman," said an organizer, Elissa
> Saavedra, "and if you're going to suppress the name, then you're
> suppressing us as women." All proceeds are to go to charity.
> -----
>
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