Talk:woo woo

Finnegans Wake

Joyce uses the word "woo-woo" in Finnegans Wake, p. 36: "I am woo-woo willing to take my stand, sir, upon the monument," etc. I don't know what it means in this case. Maybe just referring to the tribal scream "woo-woo"? W.D. Sparling (talk) 20:54, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Joyce can be pretty annoying sometimes. It could be an ad hoc onomatopoeic intensifier, a way to indicate stuttering or a sudden impediment of fluid speech, or just one of his countless nonce words. —Μετάknowledge^{discuss/deeds} 21:01, 16 March 2013 (UTC)

Etymology

I always though that it's meant to represent a mocking ghost sound. Like in:

• Person A: I think I saw a ghost
• Person B: A ghost? Woooooowooooo!!!!

92.99.182.24 16:33, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

The ghost sound is usually whoo. Equinox ◑ 23:54, 17 September 2014 (UTC)

woo-woo much more common spelling

See all the references and http://www.onelook.com and this. --Espoo (talk) 11:58, 20 January 2017 (UTC)