Boy howdy (idiom)
Boy howdy is an American idiom. It is an intensifier, or signifier of agreement or sometimes of amazement.[1][2][3] For example:
- Sure is hot today!
- Boy howdy, you're not kidding!
| “ | Boy howdy, I did some fancy praying... I wasn't dead! Boy howdy, boy howdy, boy howdy! I was buried alive in noise, and the heat and cinders stuck my neck and legs... I felt blistered from the heat... But boy howdy, I was alive! Thank you, Jesus. | ” |
| — Olive Ann Burns, "The Train Trestle" from Cold Sassy Tree[4] | ||
The idiom is especially associated with Texas,[5][1] and the American West[6] and South[1] in general.
Like most any intensifier, it can be and sometimes is used sarcastically.
"Boy howdy" is primarily a 20th century idiom, although it also found to some extent in the 21st century[citation needed] and may originate in the 19th century, being extant in Texas before World War I.[1][2]
"Boy howdy" is a combination[2] of "howdy" from "howdy do" or "howdy doody", a slurring of "How do you do?" found particularly in the American west and south[1][2] and "boy", itself (like "man)" found alone, or in "oh boy" with a variety of uses including especially intensification.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Evan Morris (July 14, 2008). "Boy Howdy". Word Detective. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Neal Murphy (July 15, 2015). "Boy Howdy". Shelby County Today. Retrieved December 16, 2015.[better source needed]
- ↑ "Boy howdy!". The Free Dictionary. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
- ↑ Burns, Olive Ann (1986). Cold Sassy Tree. Mariner Books. ISBN 978-0618919710.
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cited at Lucas, Mark, ed. (1991). Home Voices: A Sampler of Southern Writing. New Books for New Readers. University Press of Kentucky. p. 24. ISBN 978-0813109060. Search this book on
- ↑ Untiedt, Kenneth L. (2005). Inside the Classroom (and Out): How We Learn through Folklore. Publications of the Texas Folklore Society. University of North Texas Press. p. 228. ISBN 978-1574412024. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
Usually, the strongest by-words one heard were son-of-a-gun, son-of-a-biscuit-eater, durn, boy howdy, gosh, and golly bum.
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- ↑ Moodie, Craig (2011). Into the Trap. Roaring Brook Press. p. 33. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
One time my parents and I went to a dude ranch in Wyoming and I picked up the phrase 'boy howdy'.
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