Before it was a search engine or an '80s pop song, Yahoo was a type of creature to be found in Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Our hero, Lemuel Gulliver, travels to the land of the Houyhnhnms, a peaceful, intelligent race of horse-like creatures. Say their names like a whinny: "Wiiiiiiin-nimmmms!" The Houynhnhnms keep a nasty, treacherous race of monkey-like creatures to do their bidding -- the Yahoos. Of course, the Houynhnhnms are astounded that Gulliver looks like a Yahoo but seems to be intelligent. Gulliver soon learns the Houynmhnhnm language, and then we get lots of coversation about humanity and how Gulliver's race really isn't that different from the hated Yahoos after all. Humans lies and steal, for instance, actions of which the Houyhnhnms are not capable.
Which all brings me to the article in today's Boston Globe about the etymology of the word Yahoo and how it's starting to take on other shade's of meaning. This article is in the Globe's Sunday "Ideas" section, which is always interesting reading.
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