Вирджиния Университетінің «Вахус» лақабының тарихы

Unofficial nickname for the University of Virginia

Wahoos, often shortened to 'Hoos, is a nickname for sports teams of the University of Virginia (officially the Cavaliers), and more generally, a nickname for University students and alumni.

The nickname is a back formation from the school's yell, "wa hoo wa." Official University of Virginia sports documents explain that Washington and Lee baseball fans first called University of Virginia players "a bunch of rowdy Wahoos," and used the "Wahoowa" yell as a form of derision during the in state baseball rivalry in the 1890s, presumably after hearing them yell or sing "wa hoo wa." The term "Wahoos" spread around the University and was commonly in use by the 1940s. "'Hoos" emerged as an equally commonly accepted nickname on the university Grounds (campus) and in student publications. Although the terms “Cavaliers,” “Wahoos” and “‘Hoos” are used almost interchangeably to refer to University teams and players, “Cavaliers” is more often used by the media, while “Wahoos” and “‘Hoos” are frequently used by Virginia students and fans. The yell was invented as an Indian yell for Dartmouth College by Dartmouth student Daniel Rollins in 1878. Corks & Curls, the University of Virginia annual, regularly printed lists of the yells and colors of the various colleges; in 1888 it included Dartmouth's school yell, a part of which was the phrase "wa hoo wa." University of Virginia students soon incorporated the phrase "wa hoo wa" into their own, longer school yell, and individual U. Va. fraternities also adopted it and modified it. It was common for such student culture to travel: the University of Illinois also adopted "wa hoo wa." Dartmouth students, meanwhile, largely stopped using the Indian yell during the 1980s along with the accompanying Indian mascots, symbols, and nickname. Legend, however, states that Otey sang "Where'er You Are, There Shall My Love Be". The student audience decided to join in the refrain of the song and by the end of the play the crowd turned the words "Where'er You Are" into "Wah Hoo Wah." Both events might have occurred, since an enthusiastic student audience might reasonably be presumed to sing along with Otey after hearing her sing "Wah Hoo Wah." While there is no evidence that the nickname stems from the wahoo fish, it is often claimed by students that a "wahoo is a type of bass fish that is capable [of] drinking twice its weight."

The "wah hoo wah" yell is memorialized in The Good Old Song, the de facto alma mater of the University of Virginia written in the mid 1890s, which describes "the good old song of Wah Hoo Wah." The song is sung by the spectators at Virginia football games after a score.