Hopla

Part of speech: interjection

Definitions

1. An interjection cried out when someone stumbles, slips, or suddenly catches something that is falling
2. A spoken exclamation of surprise, often shouted as a person trips or almost loses their balance
3. Used as a startled cry when a person nearly falls or quickly steadies an object that is slipping

Etymology: "Hopla" is an interjection, and its history is short and largely undocumented. It appears in English dictionaries as an exclamation shouted when someone trips, slips, or grabs something about to fall, a sound that expresses a sudden moment of effort or surprise rather than naming any object or idea. Because the word is an exclamation, its origin is more a matter of sound than of grammar. Words of this kind often arise independently in different languages, shaped by the rhythm of a startled voice, so tracing a single parent word is difficult. Etymologists generally treat such interjections as imitative or expressive, and there is no established source language that can be named with confidence for "hopla." The word's meaning is therefore its most stable feature: it has stayed tied to the instant of a stumble or catch, which is why it is used as a cry rather than as a noun or verb.