Imagine my surprise when I logged on to Washington Mutual's digital banking site and saw one of my favorite celebration phrases. Usually when I look into my checking account this time of month, I'm trying to see whether the mastercard payment is going to overdraft the account, so Woohoo! is never at the forefront of my mind. So, I took it as a modest but ignorable affront until, UNTIL I saw that the WAMU folks felt a need to TRADEMARK "Whoohoo!"
Now I'm really going to go broke. I can't possibly pay them everytime I use "their" phrase. As an act of civil disobedience, I'm tempted to print a T-shirt today with "their" phrase on it...
Whoohoo! Whoohoo! Whoohoo!
8 comments:
WHOOHOO! YEE HAW! WHOOHOO..... Rant on.....
WHOOHOO?
How about alternative spellings? Woo-hoo?
Yoo-hoo has been commodified for a while, and it's totally fallen out of use.
I think I prefer "Woo" as a spelling, as in to lure. Hmm...do you suppose its etymology is in my OED?
Not that you asked...
"Woo" is a much older word, dating back to at least the 11th century, and usually meaning something about romantic luring.
"Whoo" dates to maybe the 17th century, as a shout of surprise or joy. Turns out whoot or whoop are old, too. (Who knew? Whoop, there it is!)
The OED doesn't cite a "-hoo" with either of them, though it does list "whoo" as an alternative spelling of "woo."
Urban dictionary, however, has a fascinating bit about "woo-hoo" being a term in the Sims 2 that means, well, hanky panky in simulated computer-land. Participating in woo-hoo in Sims2 may or may not end with the ring of a bell tone, signifying pregnancy.
Again, not that you asked.
only Molly could find a way to take the phrase and make it something other! :)
very funny...
wow....Molly. Just, wow.
I thanked Molly for her insights over on her blog, but wanted to add mine here as well.
For now, I suppose I will think of my exclamation as Woo-Whoo! This keeps me out of debt to WAMU and also, I trust, keeps me out of trouble in the SIMS world, too.
Woo-Whoooooooooooooooooooo!
i like the latest version, myself. It's always good to have plenty of drawn out O's for dramatic effect!
Maybe the trademark is that combination of those letters on that block of hideous pink coloring? If, in which case, they can keep it.
Wouldn't a credit union be a better choice, rather than a big corporate monster like WAMU? Kelli and I jumped ship from our respective corporate behemoths a few years back. Of course, she got saddled with a few idiot customer service reps along the way. Maybe you heard already.
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