Word of the Day : February 21, 2019

hoopla \HOO-plah\ noun

Definition

1 : excited commotion : to-do

2 : exaggerated or sensational promotion or publicity : ballyhoo

Did You Know?

In French, the interjection houp-là is used roughly the same way as English's upsy-daisy or whoops-a-daisy, as one might say when picking up a child. (This usage can be found in English, too, in such works as Booth Tarkington's The Magnificent Ambersons and James Joyce's Ulysses.) When the word was borrowed into American English, however, it was to refer to a kind of bustling commotion, and later, as a term for sensationalist hype. In the early 20th century, another hoopla was in use as well. Playing on the syllable hoop, that word gave its name to a ring-toss game played at carnivals.

Aired February 21, 2019

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