Georgetown Traditions: What's A Hoya?
The origins of the word "Hoya" defy simple explanation. Over the years, some
have claimed it is an Indian word, while those of a legal mind thought it
related to the French word oyez, the traditional opening of judicial
sessions. Still others held that with Georgetown's location along a river,
Hoya might be an offshoot of the nautical "ahoy". None of these claims have
held water, so to speak.
The official explanation holds that there was a baseball team at Georgetown
called the "Stonewalls". It is suggested that a student, applying Greek and
Latin, dubbed the team the hoia saxa-- hoia is the Greek neuter plural for
"what" or "what a", while saxa is the Latin neuter plural for "rock".
Substituting a "y" for an "i"; "hoya saxa" literally means "what rocks".
To this day, however, no one has proven exactly when and under what
circumstances the yell originated. While there was a Stonewalls team between
1866 and 1873, an actual reference to the team is pure speculation. Some
have held that hoia saxa referred not to the team but its surroundings--the
team's field (the present site of Copley Lawn) was bounded by the College
Walls along 37th street. One theory holds that words such as saxa (Latin for
"rocks") were scribbled on the walls for years and a similar phrase may have
simply been adopted by fans of the baseball team.
The Hoya yell gained additional attention in 1920. In that year, a fledgling
student newspaper known as The Hilltopper petitioned Rev. Coleman Nevils,
S.J., Dean of the College, to change its name to The HOYA, a name said to be
more representative of the University. Nevils, who had championed naming the
Holy Cross student paper "The Hoia" without success in 1916,
enthusiastically approved the change.
As the college paper was often cited by sportswriters covering Georgetown
sports in the 1920's, it took only a few years for a nickname to be born. By
the fall of 1928, a HOYA sportswriter began to refer to the football team as
the "Hoyas" rather than its contemporary nickname of the "Hilltoppers". The
change was picked up by local writers as basketball season began, and Hoyas
became the official Georgetown nickname within a few years.
Among all college programs, only Georgetown University holds this unique
team nickname to which its students, faculty, alumni, and fans can take
pride in. But the Hoya yell did find its way into the fight songs of two
other Jesuit colleges: Holy Cross' "Hoiah, Holy Cross", and Marquette's
"Ring Out Ahoya". Each appears to have its roots, however distant, in the
yell begun on a college yard many years ago. In short, "Hoya" may be
difficult to define, but its tradition endures.
And that's "what" it's all about.
http://www.hoyasaxa.com/sports/hoia.htm
Gerry
.....................................
'Been wondering that, myself.
Wilton
Loren, where *do* you get this "hoya" stuff as a synonym for B.S.?
Don't have time for the story where I got the word, but as alex surmises
it stands for the S part of BS, but is not gender specific, and applies
only to large N.A mammals Cattle, Bison and horse specifically.
It was a story told at scout camp many years ago, and involves the gummit
BIA rep
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