We all know that lusty two-note whistle directed at an attractive passerby. But how did that particular sound come about? If we trace the earliest record of that sound, known as a “wolf whistle,” we find this 1943 Tex Avery cartoon. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Origin of Wolf Whistle”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi.
Hi.
I’m Sue and I’m from Milton, Wisconsin.
Okay, great. Welcome to the show. How can we help?
Well, my question isn’t concerning a word really, it’s concerning a tone.
And I’ll just, I’ll show you the tone.
Thank you.
Did that go through all right?
Yeah, yeah, you did a wolf whistle, right?
Oh, is that what it’s called? I had no idea.
But I want to know the origin of it and whatever you can tell me about it.
The origin of the wolf whistle.
Wow.
That’s a hard one.
And is that a universal thing?
Is it universal?
Or is it just an American thing?
I know it’s at least in the Anglophone world.
It’s very American.
I’m trying to think what countries I’ve heard it in.
This is a hard one.
It is pretty much outside our expertise,
But let me toss you a few facts
And see if they’ll give you enough information
Where you can do some of your own digging, all right?
Okay.
We have accounts in Roman writing
Of people talking about whistling at women.
Now, I don’t know how reliable they are,
And I’m not going to go into who said what,
Because sometimes the translations aren’t the same.
Some people say it was a hissing at women.
Some people say it was a whistling at women.
But we don’t know if it’s the same whistle.
The earliest use of that whistle that I can find
Is actually not that early.
It’s from a Tex Avery cartoon in 1943,
When there is actually a wolf sitting at a table going,
At somebody that he finds very attractive.
So that’s actually about the time that we have the earliest uses in print of the term wolf whistle.
But I’m pretty sure that that two-toned whistle predated the term wolf whistle.
If you go to Wikipedia, you know, I’m ambivalent about Wikipedia.
I have many conflicting opinions about Wikipedia.
This is an entry that I would not pay attention to.
Wikipedia claims that the wolf whistle, that two-tone, comes from the Bosn’s whistle on a boat.
Suggests that it means
Everyone come to attention
Or I don’t even know.
Watch out.
Take a look at that.
Take a look at that. But I have heard
From sailors that that two-tone whistle
Does not represent anything
Like that in
The seafaring community at all.
That whistle doesn’t have that meaning.
Now, that doesn’t mean it didn’t come from it,
But the evidence is really slim
That it ever came at all from a whistle.
The guy who blows the whistle to announce the captain
Is coming aboard or what have you.
But it’s fraught with meaning, right?
I mean, it means something very specific.
Yeah, I mean, it’s…
Right.
And I’ve given that as much as I’ve gotten it,
So it’s a fun thing.
All right, well, thank you, guys.
I love your show, and thanks for having me on.
Our pleasure.
Thank you for calling.
Take care now.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
