Sunny greetings, dear reader!
Today, I stumbled upon the word “hullabaloo,” which I had never heard before in English. You might know the word from a band, a movie, or your grandma.
First of all, “hullabaloo” is a noun and can be used like this: “My appearance caused quite a hullabaloo.” With English, one never knows – I can also imagine using it as a verb: “They hullabalooed for a long time.” … but that might just be me and could cause a snicker on your side.
Nowadays, this word refers to a loud, continuous noise; a mixture of noises; or a state of commotion, excitement, or angry disturbances. Usually, there are a bunch of people involved causing a ruckus or fuss. However, it does not necessarily need to be literally a noise. For instance, it can also be used to describe reactions to something seen in the media, like on TV or the internet. For example, “GILT Ninja’s new color caused a hullabaloo in the comment section of GILT News.”
In general, “hullabaloo” is used more in a fun way and not for very serious topics. A war causes an uproar, but it is less likely to cause a hullabaloo, while the divorce of an actress is more of a hullabaloo than an uproar.
When looking at the origin, there are mixed statements on the internet. Some say it is a reduplication of “hallo,” like “super-duper” or “easy-peasy.” Others say it is a combination of “halloo” (used during hunting to encourage the dogs) and the Scottish word “baloo,” which means lullaby. It can be found with different spellings, such as “hellaballoo.” Time-wise, some say it is from the thirties, while others place it around 1750–60.
In case you’re wondering about the image for this post, it has nothing to do with the word “hullabaloo.” This is all AI was able to come up with when asked to illustrate this word. It might be my incapability with AI prompts … I challenge you to give it a try!