yo-ho-ho

Definition

A cry associated with pirates and seafaring, originally a repetitive chant intended to synchronize workers performing some collective physical labour, such as hauling on a rope.

Etymology

The term was popularized by a (fictional) pirate shanty in the novel Treasure Island (1883) by Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson (1850–1894) – see the quotation – but appears in earlier songs of sailors. The term is possibly a variant of yo-he-ho, apparently a short form of yo-heave-ho (“a repetitive call made to synchronize workers performing some collective physical labour, such as hauling on a rope”).

Example Sentences

• "How happy, my comrades, how happy are we, / While drawing fish from the dark rolling sea, / While drawing fish from the dark rolling sea. / Yo ho, yo ho, yo ho, ho, ho!"
• "We're rolling along, rolling along, / As over the sea we go, / As over the sea we go, / And our anchor we heave, while we're singing our song. / Sing yo! ho! cheery men, ho! / Sing yo! cheery men, ho!"
• "The endless ballad had come to an end at last, and the whole diminished company about the camp fire had broken into the chorus I had heard so often:— / "Fifteen men on the dead man's chest— / Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum! / Drink and the devil had done for the rest— / Yo-ho-ho, and a bottle of rum!""

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