Hooting could be laughingly. But what we used to call a hoot when I was a kid was when you sort of pursed your lips and half-howled like a wolf...sounded something like "haoooooooooo!" I remember back in 7th grade a bunch of us got "excluded" (suspended for 3 days from school) for "hooting" in the cafeteria...they claimed we were creating a disturbance and inciting to riot..."hooting" was written on the blue slips (disciplinary complaints), too. I remember being interrogated alone by good ol' Mr. Frieda, "So who else was hooting in the cafeteria with you? Names! I want names, do you hear me!?" You should of seen that mob of angry parents 'bout near to take the vice-principal's head off for throwing their kids out of school, and marring their records over something so stupid...it was fun to watch the VP slowly slipping beneath his desk in reaction to the barrage! All the disciplinary actions, including the exclusions, were reversed, and the blue slips removed from the files. But "hooting" in the cafeteria to get the goat of the lunchroom supervisor sure was a lot of fun!