Hyla, even though you're not around much , you always manage to come up with the most intriguing posts! My teenage dau. says Hooah, as kind of a sardonic hooray. I wonder if some of these widespread-but-unknown-etymology things like this, and maybe indianaugust's 'gimme a break' got their fame from the movies, television, or radio? For ex., in twenty years, how many people under 30 will know where "make my day" came from?
Good to have you back, sir!