# "Yikes"

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 8, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325 "2002-12-08T17:45:05Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5fc32e/32.png) [@Bad\_News\_Baboon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_News_Baboon)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325/1 "2002-12-08T17:45:05Z")

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I was talking to my mom (who speaks Spanish) and I said in conversation “Yikes!”

She was unfamiliar with the term. I explained it to her, but was left wondering how it was that we came to use this word.

I did a search for this, but I didn’t find anything, so my appologies if this has been asked before.

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**Author:** ![Badge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@Badge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Badge)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325/2 "2002-12-08T19:02:19Z")

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Merriam-Webster dictionary says the word dates from 1957, and may be an alteration of _yoicks_. _Yoicks_ dates from the 1700’s, and was used as a call to encourage foxhounds. It doesn’t indicate where it came from.

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**Author:** ![js\_africanus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@js\_africanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/js_africanus)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325/3 "2002-12-08T19:35:45Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Badge \*  
> \*\*Merriam-Webster dictionary says the word dates from 1957, and may be an alteration of _yoicks_. _Yoicks_ dates from the 1700’s, and was used as a call to encourage foxhounds. It doesn’t indicate where it came from. \*\*

Daffy: Yoicks and away!  
_slams into tree_  
Daffy: Yoicks and away!  
_slams into tree_…

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**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325/4 "2002-12-08T20:10:38Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Badge \*  
> \*\*Merriam-Webster dictionary says the word dates from 1957, and may be an alteration of _yoicks_. _Yoicks_ dates from the 1700’s, and was used as a call to encourage foxhounds. It doesn’t indicate where it came from. \*\*

There’s also “Yipe!” which I would imagine dates from roughly that era. Perhaps the two words got combined.

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**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\
**Post date:** [December 8, 2002, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/yikes/141325/5 "2002-12-08T20:19:53Z")

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The American Dialect Society had a thread on this within the last year or three. While there was a general lack of real proof, the next version of the OED will have a cite from 1955 testifying to _yipes_. All early references are to US sources, rather than British.