If something’s messy, it looks like a hoorah’s nest. But what’s a hoorah? It beats us. All we know is, it leaves its nest in a real state of confusion, and does it well enough to inspire a popular idiom. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Hoorah’s Nest”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi.
Hi, who’s this?
Hi, my name’s Ray. I’m calling from Peru, Illinois.
Hi, Ray. Welcome to the program.
Hi.
What can we do for you?
Well, my grandmother used to use an expression that I had never heard anywhere except her. When someone’s hair was messy, she would say that your hair looked like a hoorah’s nest.
A hoorah’s nest.
And I just wondered if you’d ever heard that.
Did she ever spell it for you?
She didn’t. I don’t think I was ever old enough to ask either.
A hoorah’s nest. Have we ever heard of this? Yes. This term, hoorah’s nest, is pretty widespread.
Yeah. Long history, almost 200 years.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Really?
Yes. So she wasn’t the only one who used it by any stretch of the imagination.
And I’m interested that she said this, for example, if you had bedhead or something, right?
Okay. And would she ever tell you to clean up your room and tell you it looked like a hoorah’s nest?
No, I don’t ever remember her using it anywhere except for someone’s hair, although she may have with my dad and his siblings, but not for us anyway.
This is such a great linguistic relic. I love it.
It means a confused or disorderly mass, and it’s spelled the way that we discussed before, H-O-O-R-A-H.
And I’ve also seen it spelled H-U-R-R-A, and like hurrah, or hurrah.
You’ll also find it H-O-O-R-A-W.
And it’s anybody’s bet what a hoorah is, but it’s pretty clear that the nest it left behind is a mess.
Oh, wow.
I had just, you know, I hadn’t heard it. I almost assumed that it was a southern expression because I had never heard it before.
And your grandmother was from where?
She’s from southern Illinois.
Okay.
Yeah, it’s very informal, possibly rural, I guess.
I’m looking at a reference right here from 1860 from a dictionary of Americanisms that says a hoo-rah’s nest is a state of confusion, and then it says a woman’s word.
Oh, really?
So I think that must have to do with moms telling their kids to clean up their rooms.
I think I might start using it that way because I have several children with hoo-rah’s nests here then.
Great linguistic heirloom.
I’m glad you shared it with us.
Oh, well, thank you very much for taking my call.
Thanks for calling me.
Bye-bye.
If you see a hoorah, let us know because we’ve never seen one.
Very rare.
Oh, if I find out, I will.
Okay.
Okay, thank you.
Take care.
Thank you.
Bye-bye.
Bye.
Call us 877-929-9673 or send an email to words@waywordradio.org.
