Comments on: Etymological Folklore Or: A Few Subdued Thoughts on Hullabaloo

By: Seth

Seth — Mon, 03 Dec 2012 23:30:23 +0000

This is the most convincing hypothesis I’ve read.

By: Karel Rei

Karel Rei — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 15:43:42 +0000

Of no particular use since no candidate from an African language has been proposed, but one might note that the music that in the 18th century called “Turkish” music was usually the music of African drummers recruited for military bands. The OED is notoriously bad about such “foreign” things – at least in the eyes of those concerned with African cultures, not to say prejudiced.

By: iain greig

iain greig — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:21:59 +0000

Hulla builin, outcry, noise of hunt
(from west cork history blog-Irish words in use in the thirties)
An interesting similarity.

By: NJ

NJ — Wed, 30 May 2012 11:34:56 +0000

There is a Hindi word called Halla bol which loosely translates to public commotion. Since the Scots were a significant part of the British East India Company starting 1707 (and the Smollett entry is circa 1762) is it not plausible that the word’s origin is actually Hindi? Do you know where I can find the Smollett quotation

~ Amateur Etymologicon

By: Gavin Wraith

Gavin Wraith — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 01:41:32 +0000

There is an Irish folk song, popular enough to be googled, called “Donall na Greine”, in which the word “fuililiu” occurs: in line 3 of stanza 7 on the back of the sleeve of an old gramaphone record I bought in Ireland in the mid 60′s – “Chuala se an fuililiu is duirt se nach bhfillfeadh se”. I think “fuil” means “blood”. Whether this has any bearing on “pillelew” I do not know.