# Whence comest "Hai-oh!" after the telling of thine joke? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 28, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540 "2005-07-28T05:49:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/1 "2005-07-28T05:49:00Z")
I’ve been watching X-Play a lot in between looking for work and playing video games. Morgan Webb seems fond of making a bad pun then exclaiming, “Hai-oh!” Sometimes they use an audio clip of some guy saying it and then chuckling. So where does this come from? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/2 "2005-07-28T05:51:56Z")
Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s sidekick. ---
**Author:** ![Ms2001](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ms2001/32/18463_2.png) [@Ms2001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms2001)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/3 "2005-07-28T06:23:24Z")
Listen to the Weird Al song “Here’s Johnny” and all will be revealed. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/4 "2005-07-28T06:36:54Z")
Well that didn’t take long. Thanks guys. ---
**Author:** ![Madd\_Maxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Madd\_Maxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Madd_Maxx)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/5 "2005-07-28T12:56:40Z")
Has it been that long since Johnny Carson was on TV? ---
**Author:** ![John\_Corrado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a88e4f/32.png) [@John\_Corrado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Corrado)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/6 "2005-07-28T13:03:37Z")
Ten years. Ayep. ---
**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:** [July 28, 2005, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/7 "2005-07-28T13:09:22Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Ed McMahon, Johnny Carson’s sidekick. And, if memory serves, this mannerism was played up by Phil Hartman in his imitation of McMahon on Saturday Night Live. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/8 "2005-07-28T13:16:49Z")
> [@John Corrado](#): > > Ten years. Ayep. 13 years. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/9 "2005-07-28T17:08:07Z")
And if I recall correctly, Ed McMahon said that he started doing it during the audience warm-up after a local television station showed _Zulu_ or a similar movie, in which a native warrior and his tribesmen used it as a war call. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/10 "2005-07-28T20:20:03Z")
“You’re so young and I’m so old…” Paul Anka ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2005, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whence-comest-hai-oh-after-the-telling-of-thine-joke/314540/11 "2005-07-28T20:38:04Z")
Hey, I’m not all that young. I just never watched the Tonight Show or Saturday Night Live all that much. There were many d20s that needed rolling.