New Woo Woo

Posted by Lewis on February 27, 2003

In Reply to: Woo Woo posted by TheFallen on February 23, 2003

: : : Anyone know the first use or derivation of "woo woo" as used to describe something that is flaky ("New Age woo woo"), spooky, odd ...? Thanks. JAL

: : I don't know the first use. I think it comes from the eerie, suspenseful music used in movies and TV programs about little green men and the like. Just a guess. "Woo-o-o woo-o-o" is about how people sound when imitating that instrumental music vocally.

: I've heard "woo woo" used in the US as a variant of woohoo, with the major difference being that it's always been ironic, expressing how underwhelmed one is with something.

: "The mail arrived today and I found I'd won something in a competition, namely 50 cents off a George Foreman Mini-grill... woo woo, go me."

"Woo-woo" is also the term for the new sound siren on police cars - "Can we have the woo-woos on Sarge?" from either Alas Smith and Jones or Not the Nine O'Clock News - said by Gryff Rhys Jones. It was widely mimicked in the 80s and has become a nickname for police sirens.