"Yowser! Yowser! Yowser!"

[Johnny Hartner]

In this phenomenal (and forgotten) film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
about the marathon dances of the Roaring Twenties, we see the horrible Gig
Young as emcee constantly stirring everyone with this phrase.
--Yet, I've not found it in any slang dictionary. What gives? Has
anyone ever seen this in one? Does anyone know what this phrase means?
My saintly whitehaired mother once told me (who actually survived one of
these dances) that it meant "How are ya'?" True or false?

[Polar]

On 13 Jun 1996 21:13:31 GMT, za...@telerama.lm.com (Johnny Hartner)
wrote:

I don't think it means "how are ya'", but I have a very dim
recollection that there was a long-ago U.S. entertainer/comedian
whose trade-mark phrase was "Yowsa, yowsa". Sort of a dialect way
of saying 'Yes, sir, yes, sir."

Input?

Polar

[Frank Cole]

In article <zane-13069...@zane.slip.lm.com>
za...@telerama.lm.com "Johnny Hartner" writes:

> In this phenomenal (and forgotten) film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
> about the marathon dances of the Roaring Twenties, we see the horrible Gig
> Young as emcee constantly stirring everyone with this phrase.

<snip>

When I heard that fine, but troubled, film actor say it, I thought of
30s radio (US); could have been a catch phrase of comedian Ben Bernie,
or maybe Winchel -- yes, I'm sure horrible *and* troubled Winchel, as
in, "...and to all ships at sea, yowzer, yowzer, yowzer.". Thought
meaning was "Yes sir". Probably not the origin though.
--
Frank Cole Email: fr...@poco.demon.co.uk

[Bob Cunningham]

za...@telerama.lm.com (Johnny Hartner) wrote:

>In this phenomenal (and forgotten) film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
>about the marathon dances of the Roaring Twenties, we see the horrible Gig
>Young as emcee constantly stirring everyone with this phrase.

> --Yet, I've not found it in any slang dictionary. What gives? Has
>anyone ever seen this in one? Does anyone know what this phrase means?
>My saintly whitehaired mother once told me (who actually survived one of
>these dances) that it meant "How are ya'?" True or false?

I think it originally meant "Yes, Sir". I don't know if it was
ever used in a genuine Southern dialect, but in the Hollywood 1930s
concept of a "Negro" dialect, "Yowzah, boss, ahz comin' jiss uz fass
uz ah kin" was the way people like Step 'n Fetchit talked.

In a jazz or swing musician's environment, "Yowzah, Yowzah,
Yowzah!" could probably be translated "Yeah, Yeah, YEAH!" or "Hey,
Hey, HEY!". It sounds like the sort of thing Phil Harris might have
said.

[Francis Muir]

Polar writes:

I don't think it means "how are ya'", but I have a very dim
recollection that there was a long-ago U.S. entertainer/comedian
whose trade-mark phrase was "Yowsa, yowsa". Sort of a dialect
way of saying 'Yes, sir, yes, sir."

Concur. I think it is a blackface expression. Something like at a dance in the
film TOM & VIV.

Fido

[Solomon Taibi]

za...@telerama.lm.com (Johnny Hartner) wrote:

>In this phenomenal (and forgotten) film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
>about the marathon dances of the Roaring Twenties, we see the horrible Gig
>Young as emcee constantly stirring everyone with this phrase.
> --Yet, I've not found it in any slang dictionary. What gives? Has
>anyone ever seen this in one? Does anyone know what this phrase means?
>My saintly whitehaired mother once told me (who actually survived one of
>these dances) that it meant "How are ya'?" True or false?

"Yowser" = "Yes sir" in pseudo-Negro stage dialect.
Typical of the old "blackface" minstrel shows.

--
S. Taibi
Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruning hooks
into spears: Let the weak say 'I am strong'. (Joel 3:10)

[Richard Knoppow]

fra...@pangea.Stanford.EDU (Francis Muir) wrote:

>Polar writes:

> Fido

A previous poster got it right. It was Ben Bernie, a band leader and
"talker" of songs in the 1920's and 30's who made it popular, although
it probably did not originate with him.
---
Richard Knoppow
Los Angeles, Ca.
dick...@ix.netcom.com

[Steve Bartman]

exw...@ix.netcom.com (Bob Cunningham) wrote:

>za...@telerama.lm.com (Johnny Hartner) wrote:

>>In this phenomenal (and forgotten) film "They Shoot Horses, Don't They?"
>>about the marathon dances of the Roaring Twenties, we see the horrible Gig
>>Young as emcee constantly stirring everyone with this phrase.
>> --Yet, I've not found it in any slang dictionary. What gives? Has
>>anyone ever seen this in one? Does anyone know what this phrase means?
>>My saintly whitehaired mother once told me (who actually survived one of
>>these dances) that it meant "How are ya'?" True or false?

> I think it originally meant "Yes, Sir". I don't know if it was

>ever used in a genuine Southern dialect, but in the Hollywood 1930s
>concept of a "Negro" dialect, "Yowzah, boss, ahz comin' jiss uz fass
>uz ah kin" was the way people like Step 'n Fetchit talked.

> In a jazz or swing musician's environment, "Yowzah, Yowzah,
>Yowzah!" could probably be translated "Yeah, Yeah, YEAH!" or "Hey,
>Hey, HEY!". It sounds like the sort of thing Phil Harris might have
>said.

I've always associated it with the 1920s and early 30s when singers
still used megaphones (like Rudy Vallee did).

If I'm not mistaken it can be heard today in the background chorus of
rap star Coolio's hit song "1-2-3-4", currently on heavy rotation on
MTV.

Steve