Re: Yahoo

Posted by Yahoo Serious on July 07, 2004

In Reply to: Re: Yahoo posted by Bookworm on July 07, 2004

: : I've just learnt something - the origin of 'Yahoo'. I wonder if the web site owners know what sort of name they've chosen?! According to my recently acquired vintage (1942, 1947 and 1953 - ninth printing April 1956) 'The Amercan Thesaurus of Slang' the word was coined by Johnthan Swift in 'Gulliver's Travels' for a 'degraded being'. It entered common US useage in 1877 to mean any crude or uncouth person. This origin is supported by modern dictionaries. Welcome to Yahoo!!

: I had heard that Yahoo was an invention of Swift. Yahoo is also used often to refer to rural types, particularly Southerners. (My apologies to the Southerners, I don't mean to offend).

: I believe Swift is responsible for other words as well. Does anyone have (or know of) a list?

A Yahoo was a person in Gulliver's Travels who sat in a tree and flung poop on travelers on the path below.

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