hoo-ha

• hoohaa, hoohar, hoo-haa, hoo-har, hoo-hah, hoohah

Perhaps from Yiddish הו־האַ‎ (hu-ha, “a hullabaloo”).

The second sense is likely expressive; compare such similar terms in other languages as Spanish juju.

(Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈhuːˌhɑː/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

hoo-ha (plural hoo-has)

1. A fuss, uproar, commotion or stir; hype; brouhaha, hullabaloo.

   There was a big hoo-ha about it in the papers, and then the world completely forgot the matter.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:commotion

   • 2023 February 20, Vanessa Friedman, “Don Lemon, Nikki Haley and the Lessons of a Hoodie”, in The New York Times‎, →ISSN:

     Tucker Carlson (also a jacket and tie guy) picked up on the hoo-ha on his Fox News show, calling the hoodie-jacket combination a “cry for help” and inviting Roger Stone, the disgraced former political operative and author of his own “Best and Worst dressed List,” to comment.

2. (slang, euphemistic) Vagina, vulva.
   • 2009, Linda Howard, Burn: A Novel, page 242:

     Did that make her a good judge of character, or a fool who was letting her hoo-ha do her thinking for her?

   • 2009, Lexi Ryan, Stilettos, Inc., page 163:

     She didn't want to lose their childish battle of wills, but neither did she want some parasite swimming up her hoo-ha.

   • 2010, Dee Tenorio, All Or Nothing, page 54:

     His mother later expressed disappointment that she'd been wrong, but by then, Belinda had a butterfly on her hoo-ha.

• brouhaha

• hooah