Huzzah

Huzzah (originally huzza) is an English interjection of joy or approbation. According to the Oxford English Dictionary it is "apparently a mere exclamation" without any particular derivation. Whatever its origins, it has seen occasional literary use since at least the time of Shakespeare.

Usage

Huzzah may be categorized with such interjections as hoorah and hooray. According to the OED, "In English the form hurrah is literary and dignified; hooray is usual in popular acclamation."

In common usage, such as cheers at sporting events and competitions, the speaker need not make distinction and the words are distinguished by regional dialect and accent.

Though it is often Template:Pron-en, Alexander Pope's An Essay on Man (1734), line 256, rhymes the second syllable as /ˈzeɪ/, as in hooray.

Most recently, the term huzzah has been utilized heavily by the members of the Pi Kappa Alpha Fraternity at Northwestern University. These men exclaim "HUZZAH!" during extreme fits of excitement, pride, sexual arousal, hunger and fear.

Military

Hooray comes from the Mongolian Hurree, used by Mongol armies and spread throughout the world during the Mongol Empire of the 1200s. In Mongolian Hurree is a sacred praise much like amen or hallelujah.

The OED notes that in the 17th and 18th centuries it was identified as a sailor's cheer or salute, and thus was possibly related to words like heeze and hissa which are cognates of hoist. This behavior is depicted in the movies Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World and Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.

In the 18th and early 19th centuries, three "huzzahs" were given by British infantry before a charge, as a way of building morale and intimidating the enemy. The book Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket by Richard Holmes indicates that this was given as two short "huzzahs" followed by a third sustained one as the charge was carried out.

See also

• hooray