Mad has made frequent use of esoteric words, including potrzebie, furshlugginer, veeblefetzer, Moxie, ganef, halavah, and axolotl. Many, but not all of these words are of Yiddish or Jewish origin. Favored humorous names included Melvin, Bitsko, Kaputnik, Cowznofski, and Fonebone. Mad used the word ‘ecch’ or its cousins ‘blecch’ and ‘yecch’ as an all-purpose expression of disgust so often that even The Simpsons later made passing references to the practice, showing Mad covers with the unseen parodies ‘Beauty and the Blecch’ and ‘NYPD Blecch’.
The word ‘hoohah’ was an early running gag, often exclaimed by excited characters in the comic book issues written by Harvey Kurtzman; the first story in the first issue of Mad was titled ‘Hoohah!’. Its Eastern European feel was a perfect fit for the New York Jewish style of the publication. The precise origin of ‘hoohah’ is unknown, although it may have sprung from the Hungarian word for ‘wow’, which is hűha.
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The Daily Omnivore 