rebel yell and yeehaw

[sclements at NEO.RR.COM]

When we last discussed this topic in 2006, Jon Lighter said-

 "And lest Sam feel like chopped liver, if "Yankee Stan" Freberg did yell "Yee-ha(w)!" in 1955 (rather than "Ya-hoo!") it was a significant moment in American life"

Here's your significant moment, via youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3VSa7W8zBOU

Sam Clements

---- Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Thanks, James, for mentioning the my excruciatingly learned posts on
> this matter.
>
> Update: nothing new to report, though I've kept the topic in mind.
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Jan 21, 2012 at 12:41 AM, James Harbeck <jharbeck at sympatico.ca> wrote:
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header -----------------------
> > Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster:       James Harbeck <jharbeck at SYMPATICO.CA>
> > Subject:      rebel yell and yeehaw
> > -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
> > I got the following comment today on my blog post on "yeehaw"
> > (http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/yeehaw/):
> >
> > ----
> > Wrong. The reason "Yeehaw" exists in association to the West is
> > because so many Southerners ended up there after the Civil War
> > because their homeland had been sacked and burned and was under
> > Federal (Yankee) occupation - home itself was not friendly territory.
> > They probably did yell it on cattle drives; whether early Hollywood
> > actors and writers from New York, Chicago and maybe Alberta were
> > familiar with it is irrelevant.
> >
> > "Yeehah!" is the Southernism that was identified as the "Rebel Yell"
> > which was in use since before the Civil War and was heard during the
> > Civil War... usually delivered at the top of one's lungs. Just
> > because you haven't observed its history doesn't mean that such
> > history doesn't exist. I grew up in rural South Carolina and this
> > goes back a long, long way, for generations.
> > ----
> >
> > Needless to say, I think he is a little oversure of his version,
> > although it is in its way an interesting contribution to the
> > question. I would be glad of comment (by email or at
> > http://sesquiotic.wordpress.com/2010/07/13/yeehaw/) by any with
> > pertinent knowledge -- someone a little "closer" to it might speak
> > more authoritatively than I could.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > James Harbeck.
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> > The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
>
>
> --
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org