HOOOAHH VS. OOORAH
From the Dayton Daily News:
Like their Army counterparts the day before, the Marines staged an urban assault, equipped with helicopters lowering troops to rooftops, tanks, machine guns, the works. I asked a Marine major if he could explain to me the difference between the Marines and the Army Rangers we had met the day before.
"The Rangers are very good," he allowed. "I'd rate the best of the Rangers about equal to the average Marine."
"I would have been a Marine," a Ranger told me, "but I couldn't fit my head in a jar."
Rivalries between the services are legendary, of course, but the soldiers of the Army and the Marines do have one thing in common: They both make funny noises, which is endearing, because most of what they do for a living isn't the least bit funny.
We were at dinner and a general was holding forth on the challenges facing the Army in the post-Cold War world, when from the back of the room came this grunting, coughing sound as if someone was struggling with a belch or was about to hurl.
"Hoooahh." One too many toddies before dinner, I assumed. Then it happened again.
Another guy. "Hoooahh." Then another. And another. I soon learned this is the Army's equivalent of shouting "Amen, brother!" in church. Depending on how you say it, "Hoooahh" means "right on." Or it means "darn shame, ain't it." For all I know, it can also mean "pass the ketchup."
Marines, likewise, do the same thing. Only theirs is "Ooorah."
"Men, we're going on a 20-mile run."
"Ooorah."
"Then, we're going to do 500 pushups."
"Ooorah."
'Afterwards, I'm buying the beer."
"OOORAH!!"
Since the Air Force was the next stop on our tour, I asked an Air Force major if members of his service were into this kind of noise-making. You guys have something you say? I asked.
Sure, he replied. "FORE."
Like their Army counterparts the day before, the Marines staged an urban assault, equipped with helicopters lowering troops to rooftops, tanks, machine guns, the works. I asked a Marine major if he could explain to me the difference between the Marines and the Army Rangers we had met the day before.
"The Rangers are very good," he allowed. "I'd rate the best of the Rangers about equal to the average Marine."
"I would have been a Marine," a Ranger told me, "but I couldn't fit my head in a jar."
Rivalries between the services are legendary, of course, but the soldiers of the Army and the Marines do have one thing in common: They both make funny noises, which is endearing, because most of what they do for a living isn't the least bit funny.
We were at dinner and a general was holding forth on the challenges facing the Army in the post-Cold War world, when from the back of the room came this grunting, coughing sound as if someone was struggling with a belch or was about to hurl.
"Hoooahh." One too many toddies before dinner, I assumed. Then it happened again.
Another guy. "Hoooahh." Then another. And another. I soon learned this is the Army's equivalent of shouting "Amen, brother!" in church. Depending on how you say it, "Hoooahh" means "right on." Or it means "darn shame, ain't it." For all I know, it can also mean "pass the ketchup."
Marines, likewise, do the same thing. Only theirs is "Ooorah."
"Men, we're going on a 20-mile run."
"Ooorah."
"Then, we're going to do 500 pushups."
"Ooorah."
'Afterwards, I'm buying the beer."
"OOORAH!!"
Since the Air Force was the next stop on our tour, I asked an Air Force major if members of his service were into this kind of noise-making. You guys have something you say? I asked.
Sure, he replied. "FORE."
posted by Cowboy Blob @ 2:14 PM
1 Comments:
At 1:33 PM,
AnarchAngel said…
Hah
Ha ha
We DO in fact have something, and it depends on when you went in and where you served.
Some say it as "hoow-ahh" (kind of like Scent of a Woman), and some as huah or hueh which is lazy shortened and slurred version of the above.
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