Posted by Robert Hill on February 22, 2002 at 20:20:21 from 195.92.194.15:
In Reply to: To me hoodah. To me hoodah. posted by Dan Lind on February 22, 2002 at 01:09:42:
I always assumed that "to me hoodah" was just a meaningless infill to
fit the rhythm - like "doodah" in Camptown Races.
Although "howdah" is not a very common word, this discussion is not the
first time I'd read it today. I'm ashamed to admit that it's taken me
52 years of life to get round to reading Moby Dick for the first time,
and the word howdah occurs in chapter 55. If anyone unfamiliar with
the book thinks 55 is a large number, I should explain that Moby Dick
contains 135 chapters, mostly very short.
Incidentally, it's the only book I know of which contains two chapters
with identical titles.
If I remember correctly there is one chapter title which occurs twice
in the S&A series, but not in the same book.