Who dat? [catchphrase origin]

[Johnny_L.A]

From a Bob Stevens cartoon originally published in Air Force magazine, and seen in his collection There I was…: A flight of fighter aircraft over Europe in WWII. One of the pilots gets on the radio and says, ‘Who dat?’ Other pilots join in.

‘Who dat say “Who dat”?’

‘Who dat say “Who dat say ‘Who dat’”?’

‘Who dat say “Who dat say ‘Who dat say “Who dat”’?”’

The flight leader gets on the radio and says, ‘All right, you guys! Knock it off!’

‘Who dat?’

I just heard a version of this exchange in the movie Affectionately Yours. (I like a little noise when I’m working.)

What is the origin of this comedy routine?

[Exapno_Mapcase]

First hit on Google:

The phrase has its roots in vernacular poetry of the 19th century and was popularized by black entertainers. The documented history of the phrase begins with the African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar (1872-1906), famous for poems such as “We Wear the Mask” and the line “I know why the caged bird sings” (from the poem “Sympathy”) and well as for humorous verse written in black dialect. His poem “When Malindy Sings” (1895) features the lines “Who dat says dat humble praises/Wif de Master nevah counts?” The idea behind writing dialect was that the language evoked the real speech of the folk population. …

The phrase circulated widely in the first half of the 20th century. It appeared most often in a popular comedy routine in the 1930s and 40s—a voice in the dark who ask “Who dat?” The first reply is “Who dat!” followed by “Who dat who say who dat when I say who dat!” Harpo Marx belts out [sic] “Who’s Dat Man?” in “A Day at the Races” (1937). The skit was revived in the Our Gang series featuring Buckwheat and an owl. …

The association of the phrase “Who Dat” with the New Orleans Saints began in 1983 as the brainchild of two brothers, Steve and Sal Monistere, who worked in a recording studio, First Take. According to Times-Picayune writer Dave Walker, Steve heard the “Who dat?” chant and decided to incorporate it into a radio spot featuring “When the Saints Go Marching In.” He recruited five Saints players (black and white) to chant “Who dat?” for the recording session, Dave Waymer, Brad Edelman, John Hill, Reggie Lewis and Louis Oubre. Aaron Neville sang. Once again, the phrase “Who dat” was promoted by black voices—this time long after the uncomfortable minstrel connotations had disappeared from the American cultural consciousness.

Hollis Robbins is a professor of Humanities at the Peabody Institute of the Johns Hopkins University and Associate Research Scholar at the Center for Africana Studies, where she teaches African American Poetry and Poetics.

[Johnny_L.A]

I should have googled first, but I suspected I’d just get a bunch of Saints links.

[Colibri]

Thread title edited to better indicate subject.

[Snowboarder_Bo]

@Exapno_Mapcase

First hit on Google:

Pure bunkum, I say! The phrase obviously comes to us from Who Dat? Root Beer!