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Black Hawk Down

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on October 17, 2003

In Reply to: Black Hawk Down posted by Bob on October 16, 2003

: : : : : : : : : What's this oddball expression mean? Where's it from?

: : : : : : : : Roughly translated, hooray. It sprung up within the last 5 to 7 years among young people. Source?

: : : : : : : They were saying something like it in the movie "Black Hawk Down."

: : : : : : From a submission to UrbanDictionary.com --
: : : : : : booya "boo yaw"
: : : : : : 1. A threatening phrase derived from gang terminology for the sound a shotgun makes when fired. 2. An exclamation.
: : : : : : "This (bleep) was creepin' tryin' to gaffle my whip, but I snuck out the crib, cocked back, and BOOYA, splattered that fool's brains all over the driveway!" "Booya grandma, booya!"

: : : : : boo-ya adj. [1990s] (W.I./UK/US Black teen) totally wonderful, incredibly fine. [? hip-hop group the _Boo-Ya Tribe_]
: : : : : booya!/booyah! excl. [1980s+] 1 (US campus) a term used to indicate suddenness or surprise (cf. BANG; WHAM!) 2 (US Black gang) an echoic term used to imitate the sound of a shotgun being fired (cf. BOOYAKA!) [SE excl. _boo!_ + _yah_]
: : : : : booyaka! excl. [1980s+] (W.I./UK Black teen) an excl. of delight, pleasure, made by using the mouth to simulate gun shots fired in celebration or appreciation of something (cf. BOOYA!; PRAM! PRAM!)
: : : : : From Cassell's Dictionary of Slang by Jonathon Green

: : : : So what were they saying in Black Hawk Down? It had more of an "h" sound. In context it was kind of to say, "Let's get 'em." "Give it the old college try."

: : : What a country. We invent a term for sudden celebration, and it's a shotgun blast blowing people's brains out. Is it too late for me to move to Canada?

: : "We"?
: Americans.

But evidence was presented above to show that the term is in common use by teenage criminals in the West Indies, U.K., and U.S., with the earliest mention being 1980's for W.I./U.K. I think "we" Americans are too quick to take credit or blame for everything that's right or wrong with the world.

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