Citations:hullabaloo

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English citations of hullabaloo

Etymology[edit]

  • [A]ssumed to be created as a consonantally rhymed compound word of hallo/halloo (shouted interjection) + Scots balloo/baloo (lullaby), from Scottish Gaelic balbh, from Old Irish balb
  • According to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), this is a native English word, first appearing in print in 1762 (Smollett). The OED and other etymologists do not consider the possibility that the word was introduced from India into the English language. The term hullabol is still used in Indian English to describe a type of public demonstration, involving making a great noise. Hulla is either derived from hamla (“attack”) or from halhala (“ululation”) from Persian via Urdu; bol is from the Hindi verb bolna (to utter or say).
    The above etymologies are currently unreferenced, and not supported by the OED.

Noun[edit]

  1. A clamour, a commotion; a fuss or uproar.
    • 2007, Julie Hankey, A Passion for Egypt: Arthur Weigall, Tutankhamun and the ‘Curse of the Pharaohs’, Tauris Parke Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 3:
      Chapter 1 'that violent hullabaloo' 1880-1892 'Death of Mr A. Weigall, Tut-ank Amen Curse Recalled', said the Daily Mail for 3 January 1934, and the rest of the more sensational newspapers printed much the same kind of thing: [...]
    • 2007, Douglas Thayer, Hooligan: A Mormon Boyhood, Zarahemla Books →ISBN
      You were also warned daily, hourly in the summer, not to let the screen door slam and otherwise not to cause a hullabaloo. Your mother was always saying, "Now what's this hullabaloo all about?" But we didn't know, although we liked the sound [...]