Wahoos
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- For other uses, see Wahoo (disambiguation).
Wahoos, or Hoos for short, is an unofficial nickname for sports teams of the University of Virginia, officially referred to as the Cavaliers.
The nickname is of uncertain provenance. There are several theories as to the origin of the nickname.
The most legitimate theory comes from official University of Virginia sports documents, and the legend involves Washington & Lee baseball fans first calling UVA players "a bunch of rowdy Wahoos" during the in-state baseball rivalry in the 1890s. The term "Wahoos" caught on around the University and was commonly in use by the 1940s. "Hoos" became the more accepted nickname throughout Grounds in student publications. In recent years, the Hoos nickname has become the sole nickname used by students and recent alumni of the University, and it is also commonly used in the media in reference to UVA sports teams.
Another theory, and most popular amongst students and alumni, is that it derives from the wahoo fish, supposedly notorious for drinking copious amounts of liquid (up to three times its body weight) to puff itself up for a fight.
A final theory that it is a back-formation from the cheer "wah-hoo-wah" which was invented at Dartmouth but there is no theory suggesting why the University would have adopted a nickname based on another school's cheer. The cheer of "wah-hoo-wah" was however used by fans rooting for UVA as early as the 1890s. And according to official UVA publications, the legend does not derive from Dartmouth. Legend states that Natalie Floyd Otey came to Charlottesville's Opera House in 1893 and sang "Where'er You Are, There Shall My Love Be". The student audience decided to join in the refrain of the song and by the end of the play the crowd turned the words "Where'er You Are" into "Wah Hoo Wah.