OT: The word yelp

[Jon Fox <jfoxhome yahoo co uk>]

Christian Rose wrote:

>> For instance, I actually didn't know that "yelp" 
>> was a sound (English is my second language, but I 
>> speak it about as well as my first -
>> Spanish).
>
> No, and I don't think it was meant to be 
> understandable as a sound either. It's just 
> a "nonsense" name like "Evolution" and "Nautilus",
> although it happened to be derived from the sound of

> the word for "Help" in one language. But noone is 
> expected to figure that out by themselves;
> I certainly don't think that was the intention. It 
> could just as easily have been named "Blurrf" or
> something else without a meaning.

"Yelp" is a real word.  It's one of those archaic
Anglo-Saxon words that still exists in the US, long
after it's disappeared from common usage in the rest
of the English-speaking world (including England!),
like the words "gotten" and "dove".

According to Merriam-Webster Online:
--------------
Main Entry: yelp 
Pronunciation: 'yelp
Function: noun
Etymology: yelp
Date: 1501
: a sharp shrill bark or cry (as of a dog); also :
SQUEAL 
---------------

US and British children will know the word "yelp" from
Dr. Seuss' learn-to-read classic "Hop on Pop", which
includes a picture of two yelping dogs, floating away
in a flood, saying:
"Yelp.  Help.  We yelp for help."
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/039480029X/
Buy this excellent book for your kids... but not from
Amazon please. :-)

The Seuss reference is funny and meaningful to
Generation X guys like me who were raised on his
books.  But it might not have any meaning to
English-speakers in the rest of the world, let alone
to people who speak it as a second language.





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