# What is woo? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 18, 2010, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622 "2010-12-18T12:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/21 "2010-12-18T19:21:12Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Woowoowoowoowoo!!! I thought that was the noise Curly Howard makes. ---
**Author:** ![Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maggie_the_Ocelot)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/22 "2010-12-18T19:25:53Z")
Heh. Oddly enough, it’s also used as lighthearted shorthand in some Pagan communities. For example, “Yeah, I was applying everywhere and not getting a single nibble, then I did some pro-employment woo, and got 3 calls back in one day!” In that context, it’s “woo” or more often “woojie.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/23 "2010-12-18T19:31:04Z")
> [@Count\_Blucher](#): > > …but the Woo is angry! It must be appeased. And of course, there is always the [Wapani-Wu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Versus_the_Volcano). ---
**Author:** ![AClockworkMelon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aclockworkmelon/32/10803_2.png) [@AClockworkMelon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AClockworkMelon)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/24 "2010-12-18T19:38:12Z")
Apparently a Woo Woo is an [alcoholic beverage](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woo_Woo). Considering what some woo folk believe, I think this is the most likely origin of the term. ---
**Author:** ![Turek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turek/32/18782_2.png) [@Turek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turek)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/25 "2010-12-18T20:05:08Z")
I had a friend who as a child was taught by her mother that the name for her girly bits was her “woo.” ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/26 "2010-12-18T20:09:31Z")
> [@Turek](#): > > I had a friend who as a child was taught by her mother that the name for her girly bits was her “woo.” Oh let’s not go there again… ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/27 "2010-12-18T22:14:11Z")
> [@Munch](#): > > Oh let’s not go there again… I’m really old; I’ve been there for the last time. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/28 "2010-12-18T22:30:09Z")
Here’s the [thread=567685]'_**Is this hate speech?/ (woowoo means vagina)**_[/thread] thread, for those of you who were lucky enough to miss it the first time. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/29 "2010-12-18T23:17:26Z")
I’ve yet to hear woo in conversation. Feels like a strange word to actually speak, a bit like _woot_. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [December 18, 2010, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/30 "2010-12-18T23:54:34Z")
I’m used to the definition given by **Acid Lamp** , but “How I Met Your Mother” has warped how it’s pronounced in my head into a sort of Valley Girl-ish [“WEEEUUUUUU!!!”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woooo!_%28How_I_Met_Your_Mother_episode%29) ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/31 "2010-12-19T01:44:49Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > Here’s the [thread=567685]'_**Is this hate speech?/ (woowoo means vagina)**_[/thread] thread, for those of you who were lucky enough to miss it the first time. …I guess that whole “chugga-chugga…chugga-chugga” meme is just right out then? 😉 “…more coal! We’re coming up on some big hills…! Shovel like your life depends it!!!” ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/32 "2010-12-19T02:40:39Z")
Speaking the word “woo” is often accompanied by air quotes. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/33 "2010-12-19T05:17:43Z")
I thought it derived partially from early Daffy Duck. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CukvlOL\_2WA&t=5m21s](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CukvlOL_2WA&t=5m21s) Admittedly, though, he does say “woo-hoo”. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/34 "2010-12-19T06:24:52Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#): > > I’d love to know the etymology, now that you people have me thinking about it. > > [Skeptic’s Dictionary: Woo-Woo](http://www.skepdic.com/woowoo.html) This link had my understanding – New Age stuff – pyramid power, harmonic convergence… Also TM. EST, primal scream, and a bunch of other “therapeutic” practices. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Scrivener](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@The\_Scrivener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Scrivener)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/35 "2010-12-19T13:50:38Z")
Steely Dan asked of their song-character Dr. Wu: “Are you with me Doctor Wu Are you really just a shadow Of the man that I once knew Are you crazy are you high Or just an ordinary guy Have you done all you can do Are you with me Doctor” But in the final stanza answered in the negative: “Are you with me Doctor Wu Are you really just a shadow Of the man that I once knew She is lovely yes she’s sly And you’re an ordinary guy…” So it would seem that Dr. Wu isn’t all that crazy after all. In any event, his eccentricities would probably be outstripped by those of the eponymous “Josie”… ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/36 "2010-12-19T14:10:55Z")
> [@needscoffee](#): > > Speaking the word “woo” is often accompanied by air quotes. I usually go with a dismissive hand wave. ---
**Author:** ![Nancarrow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c37758/32.png) [@Nancarrow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nancarrow)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/37 "2010-12-19T20:52:57Z")
[Periodic table](http://crispian-jago.blogspot.com/2010/07/periodic-table-of-irrational-nonsense.html) of woo. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/38 "2010-12-19T21:13:44Z")
> [@Nancarrow](#): > > [Periodic table](http://crispian-jago.blogspot.com/2010/07/periodic-table-of-irrational-nonsense.html) of woo. Wow, that’s about the most perfect chart ever! ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/39 "2010-12-19T22:18:39Z")
> [@LouisB](#): > > I’m really old; I’ve been there for the last time. And he wins his own thread! WOO HOO! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 19, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622/40 "2010-12-19T22:41:11Z")
> [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](#): > > And he wins his own thread! WOO HOO! 😃 Now, don’t go confusing your woo woo with your hoo hoo! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-woo/564622.md?page=3)