[Ads-l] rebel yell and yeehaw
Jonathan Lighter
wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM
Sun Jul 16 01:28:50 UTC 2017
A US Marine Corps recruiting poster of 1918 reads, remarkably,
"E-E-E-Yah-Yip Go Over With U.S. Marines"
https://www.flickr.com/photos/boston_public_library/3551356171/in/set-72157604204316251/
I read the "Yip" as a clumsy way of conveying a high-pitched squeal, rather
than the representation of an actual vocable.
An interesting relative of both the "yip-yip-yip" type of rebel yell and
the later, iconic "(Y)ee-ha!"
JL
On Sat, Jun 20, 2015 at 8:33 AM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> Subject: Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
>
> Yesterday I found myself serendipitously driving behind a panel truck that
> advertised
>
> YEE-HAW! A FINE SOUTHERN BEER.
>
> YOU'LL SAY IT WHEN YOU DRINK IT!
>
> Proof:
> https://trademarks.justia.com/864/49/you-ll-say-it-when-you-
> drink-86449331.html
>
> JL
>
> On Sat, Jun 13, 2015 at 5:02 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > -----------------------
> > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > Subject: Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> >
> > Another early Yeehah!
> >
> > "The Cumberland Three" was a folk-pop band of the Kingston Trio sort. In
> > 1960 they released a pair of LPs of souped-up Civil War songs on the
> > Roulette label: "Civil War Almanac: 'Yankees,' Vol. 1" and "...'Rebels,'
> > Vol. 2."
> >
> > On track B3 of the latter album, an extreme "Yeehah!" is specifically
> > identified as "the rebel yell."
> >
> > The Cumberland Three, as far as I can tell, hailed from the West Coast.
> >
> > JL
> >
> > On Sun, Jun 7, 2015 at 4:45 PM, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> >
> > wrote:
> >
> > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > -----------------------
> > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > Subject: Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> > >
> > >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> > >
> > > Now there's a whole book on the subject:
> > >
> > > http://www.amazon.com/The-Rebel-Yell-Cultural-History/dp/0817318488
> > >
> > > Nothing linguistically new here, though there's a lot of discussion of
> > the
> > > yell as a primary postbellum cultural symbol that seems to have been
> > ousted
> > > by the Confederate battle flag (actually, naval flag) only during the
> > Civil
> > > Rights Movement.
> > >
> > > Professor Warren's bulleted "key observations" include:
> > >
> > > "As early as the summer of 1861 Southern screeching had occurred in
> both
> > > major theaters of the war. ...
> > >
> > > "The Rebel yell seemingly lacked words, word sounds, rhyme, and any
> > > coherent rhythm....
> > >
> > > "The yell resulted from bodies of men screeching in unison. The
> > collective
> > > effort created greater volume and complexity than could be achieved by
> > any
> > > one soldier...."
> > >
> > > Etc. He also cites and dismisses claims that the yell originated at
> Troy,
> > > in Britain or Ireland, among the Mongols, or in the ululations of
> Muslim
> > > Spain. Maybe Indian war-whoops contributed, maybe they didn't. Maybe
> > slave
> > > shouts too, but maybe not. You just can't tell with the rebel yell;
> > > especially since, as Professor Warren correctly observes, there was no
> > > single, standard, prescribed yell at all.
> > >
> > > Prof. Warren, author of an earlier book on Civil War literature, cites
> a
> > > plethora of rebel yell information.
> > >
> > > Except, that is, for our multi-year discussion, which began in 2006. I
> > > find no mention of "Yeehaw!" antebellum mules, "Red River," Stan
> > Freberg,
> > > "Doctor Strangelove," or the 1st Marine Parachute Regiment.
> > >
> > > But there is a photo of the dust jacket of H. Allen Smith's book.
> > >
> > > JL
> > >
> > > On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 6:58 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > -----------------------
> > > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > Subject: Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> > > >
> > > > One day earlier in _The Oregonian_ (Portland), p. 11.
> > > >
> > > > JL
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 6:44 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
> > > > wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > > -----------------------
> > > > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > > Subject: Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> > > > >
> > > > > For the record, here is the earliest "Yee-ha[w/h]!" I've seen that
> > > > > explicitly refers to it as a "rebel yell":
> > > > >
> > > > > 1984 Joyce Lain Kennedy in _Springfield [Mass.] Republican_ B-8:
> The
> > > next
> > > > > time your temper flares at the boss and you're tempted to
> "yee-haw!"
> > a
> > > > > rebel yell, remember who lost the Civil War.
> > > > >
> > > > > That's 123 years after the start of said war.
> > > > >
> > > > > JL
> > > > >
> > > > > On Wed, Apr 25, 2012 at 10:11 PM, Jonathan Lighter <
> > > > wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com
> > > > > >
> > > > > wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> > > > > > -----------------------
> > > > > > Sender: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> > > > > > Poster: Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM>
> > > > > > Subject: Re: rebel yell and yeehaw
> > > > > >
> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > >
> > >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------
> -------------------
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Make that "(1959)."
> > > > > >
> > > > > > JL
> > > > > >
> > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> > > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >
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> > > > truth."
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> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
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> > >
> > >
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> >
> >
> >
> > --
> > "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the
> truth."
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> > ------------------------------------------------------------
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> >
>
>
>
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> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>
--
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