zip-a-dee-doo-dah
English
Etymology
From a song in the Disney movie Song of the South, from “O Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day”, chorus to an old minstrel song “Zip Coon” popularized by George Washington Dixon[1][2]
Interjection
zip-a-dee-doo-dah
- An exclamation of happiness.
- 1946, Ray Gilbert (lyrics), Allie Wrubel (music), “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah”:
- Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay, / My oh my, what a wonderful day / Plenty of sunshine headin' my way / Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-ay
- 1990 March, Sackett, Susan, The Hollywood Reporter Book of Box Office Hits, New York: Billboard Books, →ISBN, LCCN 89048076, OL 2219419M, page 60:
- Zip-a-dee-doo-dah! What a treat this movie was for kids and adults alike.
- 2000, Hightower, Jim, If the Gods Had Meant Us to Vote They Would Have Given Us Candidates, New York: HarperCollins, →ISBN, OL 50715M:
- If the newspapers and broadcasts are blaring “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, Zip-a-dee-a/My, oh my, what a wonderful day” over and over, there’s a tendency to go down the road humming that tune, too, because you can’t get it out of your head. Are business conditions good? Zip-a-dee-doo-dah!
- 2004 March 17, Watt, Donley, Dancing With Lyndon, Fort Worth: TCU Press, →ISBN, LCCN 2003007033, OL 25418305M, page 135:
- "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," Kate said. "This is better." She held her half-empty glass up.
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Usage notes
- Due to the saccharine, commercial nature of its usage by Disney, this is often used sarcastically or ironically.
Adjective
zip-a-dee-doo-dah
- Characteristic of such a feeling.
- 1946, Song of the South, spoken by Uncle Remus (James Baskett):
- It happened on one o' dem zip-a-dee-doo-dah days. Now that's the kind of day when you can't open your mouth without a song jump right out of it.
- 1987, “(advertisement)”, in National Geographic, volume 172, page 280:
- Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah! Only one place in the world can give you that Zip-A-Dee Doo-Dah feeling day after wonderful day.
- 2006 November 1, Sherman, B. Elwin, Caught in the Shower Without a Pencil -- Baby Boomer Humor, And Other Maturity Problems, Lulu, →ISBN, OL 8544004M, page 36:
- Repeat after me: If you're having a zip-a-dee-doo-dah day, I don't want any part of it.
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References
- Emerson, Ken (1998-08-21) Doo~Dah!: Stephen Foster and the Rise of American Popular Culture, Da Capo Press, →ISBN, page 60:
- In addition to its enduring incarnation as “Turkey in the Straw,” “Zip Coon,” or at least its nonsencical chorus—"O Zip a duden duden duden zip a duden day"—also survives in “Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah,” from the soundtrack for Song of the South, Walt Disney’s animated version of Joel Chandler Harris’s “Uncle Remus” tales.
- Ken Emerson, editor (2010-04-15) Stephen Foster & Co.: Lyrics of America's First Great Popular Songs, New York: Library of America, →ISBN, pages 30-31