Talk:Huzzah

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Military history: Culture

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Untitled early comments[edit]

I'm wondering ... might "huzzah" have come from the French, "aux armes"? I was listening to Edith Piaf's version of La Marseillaise and was struck by the similarity of pronunciation; this would fit with a military origin in the 17th/18th century.

Should Balrog of Cave Story fame be mentioned? 66.69.147.209 08:27, 3 May 2006 (UTC)[reply]

My preference is for a derivation from hoist and wonder if when hoisting a flag in salute it could be done in three pulls and hence 'Give three cheers - huzzah, huzzah, HUZZAH'. Maxx 08:26, 13 August 2006 (UTC)[reply]

From Trevelyan, England Under the Stuarts (Methuan, 21st ed, 1961), p 347

"Yet even Charles [II] seemed too mild a monarch for subjects in this mood. His popularity waned before that of his brother [James II], whose health was now everywhere drunk with the loud 'Huzzah', the cry of the Tory partisans."

The year referred to is 1681.

the good ol' once-over[edit]

Rearranged a bit... anyone feel free to polish and/or remove the cleanup tag. Potatoswatter 08:00, 12 March 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hip, hip, hurray is my U.S. childhood way[edit]

Hip, hip, hurray was how fifty years ago in Chicago we would pretend to be Englishmen. As we are a melting pot or perhaps a mosaic, I worry about cheers, such as huzzah, losing all meaning and history. I wonder, too, if England's Imperialism and Colonialism somehow exude from even "hurray!" Go to any baseball game or sports event in the U.S., and you just don't hear, "Hurray" or "Huzzah." These are archaic cheers or salutes or toasts that simply at most have ethnic history. Last kid soccer game I went to had lots of cheers and screams, but no hurray, let alone a huzzah.—Preceding unsigned comment added by Thomasderk (talk • contribs)

Are you saying you pretended to be English at games in the fifties, or that nobody says hooray these days? Maybe it's always been a matter of personal style. Potatoswatter 08:31, 5 April 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Question[edit]

Uhmm.... Should there even be a page on this? 24.222.102.218 22:06, 28 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Huzzah! Potatoswatter 06:59, 29 May 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What happend to my "Media" section? Usuage in pop culture is just as important as other usage already in the article. Jasont82 17:25, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

Its a unique word, it deserves an article Huzzahmaster018 20:19, 9 July 2007 (UTC)[reply]

If it was a particularly _notable_ word, it might deserve an article. But if it keeps you guys off the streets it's probably fulfilling some wider function. Matt Whyndham 17:48, 7 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

"Hosannah" is more notable. Yet there is no page for it. Fuzzform (talk) 02:55, 2 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Hosannah. Potatoswatter (talk) 15:55, 3 April 2008 (UTC)[reply]

I am certainly glad that there is a page for this word. -B --75.146.48.82 04:53, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Me too, I just searched for it and was glad it is there. - Daniel 137.226.36.145 11:21, 22 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Huzzah vs. Hurrah[edit]

I was startled that "Huzzah" has its own page, while "Hurrah" simply redirected me back to "Huzzah". I was under the impression that Huzzah originated as a mocking corruption of the word Hurrah or Hooray. The Alexander Pope quote seems to follow the same line, as it refers to the vocalization of "stupid starers" as a "loud huzza". -B--75.146.48.82 05:03, 21 August 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Hurrah - the band[edit]

It would be nice to at least have a disambiguation redirect for the UK band Hurrah! - Andwhatsnext (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 00:34, 16 March 2009 (UTC).[reply]

Added. --McGeddon (talk) 08:55, 16 March 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Mongolian?[edit]

I find the assertion that "Hurrah comes from the Mongolian ..." very dubious. I would like to see the detail of the claim Weatherford makes in his book: if, as I suspect, it is a passing mention rather than an evidenced argument, it is a very weak source. Does anybody reading this have access to the book?

The OED says "perh. merely due to onomatop{oe}ic modification, but possibly influenced by some foreign shouts", those it lists not including Mongolian. It is certainly conceivable that such a Mongolian word might be the origin of one of these, but you need some very compelling evidence to assert baldly, as our article does, that it 'comes from it'. --ColinFine (talk) 21:55, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Actually I've found some more. On sci.lang in 2005 Joe Murphy quoted the line from the book:

"The Europeans even picked up the Mongol exclamation "hurray" as an enthusiastic cry of bravado and mutual encouragement."

and asked Weatherford about it, and Weatherford replied (in part)

"Like most etymologies that do not come through the standard sources, many 
scholars will reject this, but in my mind there is absolutely no question.

The Germans (or really, the Prussians) picked it up from the Russians who 
picked it up from the Mongols. A little more of the etymology can be found
in the Oxford English Dictionary than in Webster's, but the OED only traces
it as far as Russia and the Cossacks (if my memory is correct) but then
leaves it unknown before that time. http://sci.tech-archive.net/Archive/sci.lang/2005-11/msg01153.html

so the 'fact' in the article is supported by a single line in a book, for which even when challenged the author has no firm evidence.

Given this, I have felt quite justified in rewording the claim as a claim, not a fact. --ColinFine (talk) 22:09, 7 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I can't find a reference, but a story I read ages ago claimed it came from the Hungarians, Hussar. In which case the Austro-Hungarian empire would have been familiar with it without Russian input. The word hussar seems to have murky etymology itself, though. 71.236.24.129 (talk) 08:04, 9 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

My German etymological dictionary (Kluges etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 23. ed.) claims the German Hurrah is derived from the English hooray/huzzah, which appear to be cognates. Apparently usage in the British navy in the 18th century led to the appropriation of the word from English into German, but apart from that noboy seems to know anything for sure, much less have a good source at hand, which I would dearly love to see. This doesn't preclude the English word being derived from German much earlier on, but it casts some doubts on this theory. Dr. Zarkov (talk) 21:33, 10 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Band 'Huzzah"[edit]

I've just removed this material, which has been added to the page:

== The Band ==
Formed in the summer of 2009 in Atlanta,Georgia by two local musicians Glenn Brigman and Stephen Burns, HuZzah quickly became a musical sensation. The duo recorded, mixed and produced their self-titled EP in Brigman's basement over a period of about three weeks. Burns and Brigman each brought five original songs to the table and the result was an eclectic 10 song thrill ride that has been described as The Shins meets Beck circa 2005 with a little Wilco thrown in for good measure. For live shows the band recruited Dillon Stevens (who played on the track "We Are Lions") to play bass. Take a listen for yourself ~ [Free Download of HuZzah's EP]
HuZzah: 1. (Huzzah)! 2. House 3. We Are Lions* 4.The Windshield Wiper Song 5. 20/20 Green 6. Down 7. Stumble 8. Awake 9. Silver Branches 10. Denmark
Credits: Glenn Brigman - Vocals (2,4,6,8,10), Drums (1,2,3,4,5,6,8,10), Guitar (2,4,6,8,10), Bass (2,4,6,8), Keyboard (1,2,3,4,9)
Stephen Burns - Vocals (1,3,5,7,9), Guitar (1,3,5,7,9), Bass (1,5,7,9), Drums (3)

Bass by Dillon Stevens

Viola by Cat Lamb

Visit their website(s) on [Myspace] and [Facebook]

I am dubious whether this material meets the notability criteria, and therefore belongs in WP at all; but if it does, it should be in its own article, not a section in an article on a different subject. --ColinFine (talk) 18:19, 22 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

West Point and Army edits[edit]

Some jackass keeps proclaimig that adding pertienent sourced content is vandalism. Stop it! West Point has a 100 year old cheer that uses Hoorah (a form of huzzah). I even provided a youtube link to the West POitn Corps of Cadets doing the cheer at the Army-Navy game (that has been played for over 100 years) on national television. I also noted that the US Army used Hooah (a form of huzzzh) to foster esprit de corps, with a reference to wikipedia's articel for hooah that confirms this. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.233.18.28 (talk) 20:53, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

I'm sorry, we don't have jackasses on Wikipedia, we have editors. A number of IP addresses have repeatedly added the same unsourced and irrelevant material to this article, despite four different editors having removed it. Note that neither YouTube nor Wikipedia is regarded as a reliable source.

If after the first removal you had come here and discussed the material, you might have been able to reach a consensus that it was relevant (I don't think it is, but there may be others who agree with you). You would still have had the problem of a lack of reliable sources.

However simply reinstating the material in this way is certainly edit warring, and eventually vandalism. --ColinFine (talk) 22:12, 2 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

OK, you have now provided a number of references, some of which appear to be reliable (I have removed YouTube and Bleacher Report, as they appear not to be. Your reinstating of the youtube link removed by xLinkBot was inappropriate). I still think that the information you have added is not pertinent or significant (thousands of groups and people say "hoorah" or "hooray" - it is "huzzah" which is unusual) but I'm not going to remove it right now: we'll see if others have an opinion on the matter. --ColinFine (talk) 18:44, 3 May 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Nobody else has expressed an opinion, but I have decided that in my view they still don't fit. I have removed several references to words that aren't "huzzah", including a couple about particular groups using the words. As I said above, thousands of groups use various forms of "hurrah" and "hooray", but only a few use "huzzah". --ColinFine (talk) 18:27, 7 July 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Human roaring: aah, yaah, rraah, urraah -> hurrah, huzzah, oorrah, etc[edit]

Hoorah, hurray, and variants (including the unmentioned Japanese "ora") are linguistically- and culturally-modulated primeval roaring: a guruttal expletive with ample teeth-showing for a more visceral intimidation. People all over the world, even those without any military experience, may find themselves issuing these bestial battle cries if berzerked (not only in the battlefield, but also in bar fights and [sadly] even in domestic violence) - as for citations, a lot of famous people roared like this throughout history, independently of national or military traditions (though I can't be bothered to do proper research)...

I suggest merging Oorah_(Marines), Hooah, Hooyah and any other variations. Kiai is related, but in the way a beguinner's primal punch relates to an expert martial artist's attack: it's not simple bashing, but a refined and polished technique.

Also, as ColinFine wrote above, "thousands of groups and people say "hoorah" or "hooray" - it is "huzzah" which is unusual" - I also suggest renaming the article and redirecting "huzzah" instead.Maegil (talk) 20:46, 24 October 2011 (UTC)[reply]

Huzzah as a variant of "Seal of Approval"[edit]

What about the recent popular use of Huzzah in this context: "She definitely gets a huzzah" meaning that the speaker approves of the subject's attractiveness and related qualities? I'll add the reference later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2601:640:8001:8377:B0E1:2C35:846A:B5AD (talk) 22:38, 30 January 2016 (UTC)[reply]

@Ermenrich[edit]

It was a very important element of the cossacks and of course it needs a mention here. The sources show the fact that the Cossacks were always associated with "hurray". They are rumors that it even originated from Cossacks. It's unlogical not to include them.

According to your reasoning, no one should be mentioned here at all. At least i had different sources and included them here - this whole almost unsourced article has a less quality standard than my contribution. Ok, then it just remains an unsourced and uncomplete article. Exactly these decisions like yours, which are illogical and unfair, ensure that one does not want to contribute to Wikipedia articles at all.

Less contribution = less diverse information = less irrelevance. And slow others will take the place of Wikipedia. Congratulations. --85.212.165.87 (talk) 13:40, 31 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Your "sources" are books on the Napoleonic wars and War and Peace. Not exactly about huzzah. You're right, this article is badly sourced, but that doesn't mean we should make it worse. The Cossacks may have said "hurrah!" but so did everyone else. We don't need to add a little section on how the British Grenadiers, the Sepoys, and the Frederick the Great's infantry used "huzzah" or "hurrah!" as a battle cry, so there is no need to add the Cossacks - nor have you added any support for your assertion that yelling "hurrah" is an important part of Cossack culture.--Ermenrich (talk) 14:09, 31 August 2018 (UTC)[reply]