whoopee n.
1. (US) a wild party; self-indulgence of any sort; also attrib + v. use.
![[US]](/static/img/flags/us.png "United States") | letter q. in Wiley Life of Johnny Reb (1943) 66: We [...] visit the Theaters may be get on a big Whope & Paint the thing red. | |
 | implied in make whoopee | |
![[UK]](/static/img/flags/uk.png "United Kingdom") | Vile Bodies 51: [footnote] Noel and Audrey are having a little whoopee on Saturday evening: do please come. | |
| Flirt and Flapper 54: Flapper: ‘Whoopee’ is when you feel you could beat the band, and are not sure if it’s your own sweetie you’re with or your best girl friend’s — and you don’t care a damn which! | |
| Sharpe of the Flying Squad 27: Smart young things, boys and girls at the end of an evening’s ‘whoopee,’ would come out of a night club and take the first car that they saw for a joy-ride. | |
| ‘On Broadway’ 4 Jan. [synd. col.] Two Paradise chorus girls were discussing the whoopee New Year doings. | |
| Amer. Guardian 15 Oct. 7/1: Then came years of high pressure whoopee [DA]. | |
![[Aus]](/static/img/flags/aus.png "Australia") | Bluey & Curley 14 Aug. [synd. cartoon strip] Flying or swimming? Whoopeeing — got crowned with a bottle. | |
| Chicago Trib. 17 May 18/3: The buncombe and the whoopee end, the whistle stopper’s gang departs [DA]. | |
| Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test (1969) 216: The main trouble with the Vietnam Day Committee was that they couldn’t see beyond the marvelous political whoopee they had cooked up. | |
| Cunning Linguist (1973) 21: An express train of guided missile, desire and just plain whoopee. But for Suzette it was the triumphant finale of a glorious round of love-making. | |
| Cujo (1982) 110: Kicking up some whoopee, I guess. | |
| ‘The Routine’Oz ser. 1 ep. 1 [TV script] It’s part of my job to arrange for inmates and their wives to make whoopee. And it’s part of your job to tell me if said inmate has earned said whoopee. | |
| Guardian G2 32/2: [cartoon caption] ‘Remember we have to practise safe whoopee.’ ‘Of course, Brenda, of course’. |
2. alcohol.
| ‘Volstead English’ in AS VII:2 87: Terms used for intoxicating liquor: Whoopee. |
In compounds
anywhere people gather for enjoyment.
| Poor Fool 45: Some high class whoopee joint you got here. |
a flighty young woman, usu. middle class, in her late teens or very early 20s, pursuing a lifestyle as far as possible removed from that desired by her parents.
| City in Sl. (1995) 69: Because of her fondness for nightlife, jazz, and dancing, she was also called a jazz baby, whoopee mama, or hot mama. | |
| (con. 1940s–60s) Straight from the Fridge Dad. |
(US) a nightclub.
| Your Broadway & Mine 8 Feb. [synd. col.] It was in one of the whoopee parlors, early yesterday yawning. |
(US) alcohol.
| On Broadway 6 Aug. [synd. col.] That vsitiing editor who fell into a Yellowstone Park geyser wasn’t accustomed to Yankee whoopee-water. | |
| ‘Drunk in Sl.’ in AS XVI:1 Jan. 70/2: liquor [...] whoopee water. |
In phrases
(US) to experience a heightened, happy state.
| Flirt and Flapper 52: Flapper: It’s [i.e. a cocktail party] to make you feel whopee before dinner. |
1. to go out on a spree, to enjoy oneself uproariously; thus whoopee-making n.
| Makin’ Whoopee [song title] Another bride, another June, Another sunny honeymoon, Another season, another reason for making whoopee! | |
| ‘Ex Parte’ in Coll. Short Stories (1941) 211: She may have made whoop-whoop-whoopee with the whole ten commandments. | |
| Your Broadway & Mine 16 Feb. [synd. col.] They want to dodge the regular boyfriend and go whoopeeing with another. | |
| Bath Chron. 24 Dec. 13/5: [headline] Rotarians Make Whoopee. Christmas Luncheon of Good Fare. | |
| This Is New York 3 May [synd. col.] Relief checks are delivered [...] and the town makes whoopee. | |
| Night and the City 111: Come on boys, let’s make whoopee. | |
| Call House Madam (1943) 212: Ravenwood insisted I should join his boys, make whoopee. | |
| (con. 1936–46) Winged Seeds (1984) 289: The happy-go-lucky Yanks picked them up in shops and milk bars, presented them with orchids, took them about in taxis, and made whoopee every night of the week. | |
| Wives & Lovers (2016) 205: ‘He may come to life and want to dance and make whoopee’. | |
| (con. c.1928) My Grandmothers and I (1987) 161: Don’t worry, when it’s all over we’ll make whoopee, you know, have a jolly ... | |
| (con. 1916) Tin Lizzie Troop (1978) 178: We don’ know particle, iota, smidgeon ’bout war. All’s we know how t’do’s make whoopee. | |
| After Hours 236: Let’s make whoopee. | |
| Indep. 5 July 7: The committee overturned the board’s ban on a video called Makin’ Whoopee! | |
| Corrections 287: All that dancing and whoopee-making and singers that coo like body parts wetted with saliva. |
2. to have sexual intercourse.
| ‘Makin’ Whoopee’ 🎵 She feels neglected, / And he’s suspected, / Of making whoopee. | |
| Web and the Rock 573: Love Pirates Make Whoopee in Love Nest. | |
| ‘Makin’ Whoopee’ 🎵 So, don’t forget, folks, / That’s what you get, folks, / For makin’ whoopee, / For makin’ whoopee. | |
| Old Story Time I i: Back to making whoopee in seventh heaven on a choo choo train that’s going no place. | |
| More Tales of the City (1984) 38: I am but seemple Italian [...] who wants to make ze whoopee weez zee [...] American girls! | |
| Campus Sl. Mar. |