Huzzah

Posted by Bobaganush on Dec 9, 2011 in Vocab | 1 comment

Huzzah!  Huzzah!  Huzzah!

I heard this exclamation every time I turned around at the first fair I ever attended (TN Ren Fest in 05).  I turned to SirWiz and gave him a puzzled look.  This is not the first word that I didn’t understand completely at the Fair and I am sure that it will not be the last.  To that end, let’s look at the word Huzzah both historically and as it applies to the world of Renaissance Festivals and Fairs.

Historically, the word huzzah may originate from military exclamations.   The Oxford English Dictionary says that it could have Swedish, Danish, Dutch or Russian roots.  However some anthropologists say that the Mongolian: Hurree may have influenced the words creation.  And to even further muddy the waters, historians say that it may come from the Turkish warcry:  Ur, Ah!  or Come on, hit!  That being said, huzzah is an exclamation of joy and even, at times, admiration.

Huzzah has seen use both in Europe, especially the UK and now it has made its way across the pond to the US and the Renaissance crowd has adopted it as its own warcry.  At the end of a joust, after a great performance or simply by a crowd of drunken attendees, huzzah always fits the bill when you have nothing else that you can say.

-Bobaganush the pirate