Callooh

Part of speech: interjection

Definitions

1. An exclamation of triumphant joy, coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky
2. A cry of delight and victory, invented by Lewis Carroll for his nonsense poem Jabberwocky
3. A joyful shout of triumph, a whimsical interjection first written by Lewis Carroll in Jabberwocky

Etymology: "Callooh" is a coinage by Lewis Carroll, first published in "Jabberwocky" in his 1871 book "Through the Looking-Glass." Carroll created it as a nonsense word, and it has no earlier history in English. The poem's narrator reports that the son slew the Jabberwock and returned "with its head" while crying "Callooh! Callay!", so the interjection sounds like a joyful shout of triumph. Carroll explained some of his invented vocabulary in the book's appendix, where he suggested that "callooh" and "callay" were likely formed from the sounds of celebration, though he did not claim a precise source. The word's pattern echoes the exclamation "hooray" and similar cheers, which helps explain why it sounds so natural as a cry of victory.