yahoo [M18th] The fourth part of Jonathan Swift's satire Gulliver's Travels, published in 1726, describes the country of the Houyhnhnms, who were intelligent horses. Their simplicity and virtue contrasts with the disgusting brutality of the Yahoos, beasts in the shape of men.
Soon yahoo was being used for a coarse person or lout. In Australia the Yahoo is a large, hairy man-like monster supposedly inhabiting the east of the country. The name is recorded from the mid 19th century, and may have originated in an Aboriginal word, though Swift's Yahoos influenced the form in English.
In the internet site and search engine Yahoo!, Yahoo stands for Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle, but was chosen partly because the associations of yahoo appealed to them.
How to cite this entry:
"yahoo" Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. by Julia Cresswell. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 11 August 2011
How to cite this entry:
"yahoo" Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins. by Julia Cresswell. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. 11 August 2011
