Pliablemoose
Lifer
Deadwood starts March 6th.
Can I get a Huzzah?
Can I get a Huzzah?
Huzza or huzzah is first attested in 1573. According to a number of writers in the 17th and 18th centuries, it was originally a sailor's cheer or salute: "It was derived from the marine and the shouts the seamen make when friends come aboard or go off." (North, Examen, 1740). It might be related to the earlier hauling or hoisting cries, heisau! and hissa!, as in these citations:"With 'howe! hissa!' then they [the sailors] cry, 'What, howe, mate! thow stondyst to ny, Thy felow may nat hale the by.'" (The Pilgrims sea-voyage and sea-sickness, 1430) and "The marynals began to heis up the sail, cryand heisau heisau." (Complaynt of Scotland, 1549). There is an old word heeze or heize, meaning 'to raise', which has cognates in both the North and West Germanic languages.