pronun. of "yahoo," [now 'to wahoo']
William Salmon
william.salmon at YALE.EDU
Mon Mar 12 01:02:14 UTC 2007
Is anyone familiar with the verb "to wahoo", meaning something like 'to
steal'? More particularly, to steal beer? As I understand it, it
refers to the act of an underaged person grabbing beer in a store and
running out past the counter without paying for it. It was used pretty
commonly in south Texas where I grew up.
I don't recall ever having heard it used to describe the theft of
anything other than beer, and I'm not sure it could be used to describe
shoplifting--sneaking something under one's coat, etc.--or other kinds
of theft more commonly associated with the 8th commandment.
Google hits are pretty sparse, though UrbanDictionary has a relevant
entry:
"That clerk nearly shot us when we wahooed all that Molson's."
WS
> Is this still about "yee-ha?" and the Texas yell?
>
> Sam Clements
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jonathan Lighter" <wuxxmupp2000 at YAHOO.COM>
> To: <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Sent: Sunday, March 11, 2007 7:15 PM
> Subject: pronun. of "yahoo," n.
>
>
>> OED offers [jhu] only, which is the educated pronunciation.
>>
>> IIRC, old westerns pronounce it [ 'je:hu: ], and, outside the classroom,
>> I have heard it so pronounced in the South. I never heard it at all in
>> NYC, outside of the classroom.
>>
>> JL
>>
>>
>> ---------------------------------
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>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
~Will Salmon
------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
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