BS: Who said 'Who He?'

Subject: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: s&r
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 07:07 PM

I see this phrase from time to time used by well read people. Where's it from?

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 07:26 PM

I suspect that most people who use the expression picked it up from Private Eye. I would say that it is probably Peter Cook who introduced it there. But he might have got it from somewhere - maybe anecdotes about some Newspaper tycoon.

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Amos
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 08:36 PM

It was attributed as an original expression to Ross, the editor of the renowned 1930-40's New Yorker Magazine, by James Thurber in his book "The Years With Ross". (I have forgotten Ross' first name). He would write it in red ink in the margin of a piece whenever it mentioned someone Ross didn't know about.

A

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Amos
Date: 23 Oct 03 - 08:52 PM

I think it was Harold Ross.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 01:35 AM

And how about 'Who Dat?'

clint

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 04:30 AM

Who dat out dere askin' who dat in here?

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: sian, west wales
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 04:59 AM

Who dat in dere askin' who dat out 'ere askin' who dat in dere?

sian

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 05:06 AM

Ain't nobody here but us chickens.

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 05:15 AM

Who are you calling chicken ?

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Hrothgar
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 07:05 AM

Now, please don't descend to fowl language.

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Rapparee
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 08:06 AM

Fowl language? What, me worry?

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Amos
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 08:25 AM

"Who dat who saY who dat?" is a different vein of humor -- I think it is from one of the preTV radio sit coms or a vaudeville act originally.


A

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: GUEST,Kim C no cookie
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 10:23 AM

Dave's not here.

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: beadie
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 10:43 AM

I always thought that "who he?" ("hoo he?") came from Walt Kelly's comic strip POGO. Perhaps spoken by Albert the Alligator.

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: GUEST,MMario
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 10:45 AM

Didn't Bob Hope use it in a couple of routines?

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Amos
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 02:59 PM

Well, it could have sprung up multiple places -- the New Yorker//Thurber story is just where I first heard it.

å

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: GUEST,Kim C no cookie
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 04:07 PM

A local popular DJ says "whoeedat?"

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Joe_F
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 07:07 PM

FWIW, "Who he?" sometimes appeared in the _New Yorker_, in the days when it used to fill columns with amusing quotations from the press, with sarcastic titles & comments. To make up an example, suppose a review, missing an s, said something like "made a strong impression on New York's intellectual". The _New Yorker_ would follow that up with "Who he?"

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: GUEST,Clint Keller
Date: 24 Oct 03 - 08:39 PM

Earliest reference I've seen to "Who dat?" is from WWII. A tension-relieving thing among flyers coming back from a mission. Someone says "Who dat?" on the radio, gets answered "Who dat say dat?" followed by "Who dat say 'Who dat say dat,'" and so on until everyone checked in.

I always supposed it was part of a vaudeville routine or something like that, but I never found out.

Ugga ugga boo, ugga boo boo ugga--

clint

yeah, I remember "Who he?" from Pogo

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Gurney
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 04:38 AM

Heard it from 'The Big Yin' when he was talking about a Glasgow childhood.... "Who he?? Bring his body doon here..."

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: BanjoRay
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 05:16 AM

There's a scene in a pre-war Marx Brothers film, I think "A Day At The Races" that involves Harpo playing jazz solos, with various onlookers pointing at him and exclaiming "Who dat man?"
Cheers
Ray

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: Liz the Squeak
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 07:50 AM

Well at least my last comment was a song.....

LTS

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: artbrooks
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 08:52 AM

Who he, risin' high
Tomorrow's the day
My man's gonna come...

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: EBarnacle1
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 02:37 PM

"Who dat dat say who dat when I say who dat" comes from the early days of talkies. I do not remember the black comedian who did it. He probably also did this schtik in Vaudeville. The scene in the movie takes place in a haunted house.
By the time I was a kid, the routine became "Who dat dat say who dat when I say 'Who dat?'" A friend would often come back with "Who dat?' and the whole thing would recycle as often as the two people would stay amused.

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: artbrooks
Date: 25 Oct 03 - 03:39 PM

Amos and Andy?

Subject: RE: BS: Who said 'Who He?'
From: MarkS
Date: 26 Oct 03 - 12:24 PM

Not to be confused with "Hoo Hah" from the old Mad Magazine days.