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Jobb Posted 22 years ago
Grammar

Hullabloo

I don't understand the cheer, "“Hullabloo, Ke-neck, Ke-neck, Hullabloo, Ke-neck, Ke-neck, Wo-Hee, Wo-Hi, We win or die! Ching Chang, Chow Chow! Bing Bang, Bow Wow! Trojans! Trojans! Fight, Fight, Fight!”

Why do you Americans feel the cheer is exciting and forceful?

My wild guess:

Hullabloo = hullabaloo (so it is exciting);
ke-neck = ? (I have no idea to figure it out0;
Wo-Hee = ?
Wo-Hi =? (like "hi", this is courageous?)
Ching Chang =?
Chow Chow =?
Bing Bang = (loud noise, beat rivals to bang to ground)?
Bow =?
Wow = exactly wow.


Context:
My high school offered calculus and trigonometry, chemistry and physics, Spanish, French, and four years of Latin, a range of courses many smaller schools in Arkansas lacked. We were blessed with a lot of smart, effective teachers and a remarkable school leader, Johnnie Mae Mackey, a tall, imposing woman with thick black hair and a ready smile or a stern scowl as the occasion demanded. Johnnie Mae ran a tight ship and still managed to be the spark plug of our school spirit, which was a job in itself, because we had the losingest football team in Arkansas, back when football was a religion, with every coach expected to be Knute Rockne. Every student from back then can still remember Johnnie Mae closing our pep rallies leading the Trojan yell, fist in the air, dignity discarded, voice roaring, “Hullabloo, Ke-neck, Ke-neck, Hullabloo, Ke-neck, Ke-neck, Wo-Hee, Wo-Hi, We win or die! Ching Chang, Chow Chow! Bing Bang, Bow Wow! Trojans! Trojans! Fight, Fight, Fight!” Fortunately, it was just a cheer. With a 6–29–1 record in my three years, if the yell had been accurate, our mortality rate would have been serious.
  

Top answer

These are all nonsense syllables typical of such cheers. , everything but the kitchen sink! Hullabloo indeed is reminiscent of 'hullabaloo".

— CalifJim

  • These are all nonsense syllables typical of such cheers.
  • , everything but the kitchen sink!
  • Hullabloo indeed is reminiscent of 'hullabaloo".
  • Ke-neck and Wo-Hee and Wo-Hi mean nothing to me -- just a way to get a rhyme ("hi" and "die") -- although some tedious research might reveal that they are names of local Indian tribes or fake Indian words.
  • "Ching Chang Chow Chow" is fake Chinese.
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3 Answers
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These are all nonsense syllables typical of such cheers. They are a mix of, as we say in the U.S., everything but the kitchen sink! Hullabloo indeed is reminiscent of 'hullabaloo". Ke-neck and Wo-Hee and Wo-Hi mean nothing to me -- just a way to get a rhyme ("hi" and "die") -- although some tedious research might reveal that they are names of local Indian tribes or fake Indian words. "Ching C
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0I was a student at Hot Springs High School when Johnnie Mae Mackey started there as the Vice-Principal (something like 1956).. She had been a teacher and principal of Rix Elementary for years; had taught my Mother there durng the late twenties to early thirties (something like that). I remember the first pep rally. We had them in those days in the old high school auditorium. Filled up the m
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