rebel yell and yeehaw

[Jonathan Lighter]

A poetic description by novelist, poet, and former Union officer John W. De
Forest (from "After the War," 1902):

I think it might be fine to hear

Their whoop again, - their panther yell:

No trained hurrah, no classic cheer,

But savage whoops of wold and fell;

A cry of wolves in hunting bout,

And yet a stirring, martial shout.


That sounds to me like howling and war-whooping, not yee-hawaing.


JL

On Wed, Jan 25, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Geoff Nathan <geoffnathan at wayne.edu>wrote:

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> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       Geoff Nathan <geoffnathan at WAYNE.EDU>
> Subject:      Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
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> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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> It's a homophone of the scientific name for 'blood cell'.
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
> Faculty Liaison, C&IT
> and Professor, Linguistics Program
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> ----- Original Message -----
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> >
> > What does "Corpsal" mean?
>
> pretty clearly, 'having to do with the (Marine) Corps'.
>
> but how is it pronounced?
>
> arnold
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