Where did the Army phrase HOOAH come from?

Answer 1

In the U.S. Army, which has so many acronyms, expressions and opaque phrases that it seems to deserve its own language, there is one word that is quite possibly uttered more than any other. That word is ��hooah.�� Pronounced HOO-ah. Alternatively spelled hua and huah. Just don�t try to define it. And definitely don�t try to figure out where it comes from. ��I believe it came from hurrah. It basically means everything from �yes� and �yes, sir,� to �that�s great, ��You could use it as a generalized cheer. It�s one of those multipurpose phrases - when in doubt, say hooah.�� That doesn�t even begin to cover it. They shout hooah to get motivated, and they whisper it when they concur with something someone just said. Hooah means you understood something, or is the proper reply when someone says ��thank you.�� On the other hand, it may also be used to say ��thank you.�� Hooah is a catchall phrase that will get you out of any situation, particularly when receiving a scolding from a higher-ranking officer. And civilians uttering hooah are generally looked upon with either disdain or the astonishment of a person who has just heard a koala bear recite lines from e.e. cummings. As with any good word, the origins of hooah are highly disputed. Some claim it derives from the military acronym HUA - Heard, Understood, Acknowledged. Another tale: When Army Rangers landed at Omaha Beach on D-Day in 1944, a sergeant ordered them to scale the cliffs looming above them and neutralize the German pillboxes perched on top. One soldier, aghast at the idea, responded, ��Who, us?�� Soldiers ended up following the order, in what became one of the most celebrated acts of World War II. Then there�s the theory that hooah comes from hurrah and hooray, themselves believed to be bastardizations of the sailor�s cry ��huzzah,�� which dates back to the 16th century. With the internet widening the forum for debate, blog entries suggesting definitions of hooah have been met with dozens upon dozens of comments from those who think they know better. With all the derivations that exist, a few souls have tried to come up with an official meaning. One such half-serious, half-humorous definition, listed by the Urban Dictionary, reads in part: ��U.S. Army slang. Referring to or meaning anything and everything except �no.� Generally used when at a loss for words.�� Answer improvment: In fact the word "Hooah" comes from an old Army Acronym; H.U.A. which stands for Heard, Understood, Acknowledged. H-U-A, hooah.