View source for Yippee Ki-Yay!

{{trope}}
A relatively new [[Stock Phrase]], usually delivered as a message of defiance or disrespect to an enemy or oppressor.  In contexts where profanity is not an issue it is often followed by "motherfucker" in tribute to the [[Trope Maker]]; elsewhere, family- or kid-friendly alternatives are used, or the followup is dispensed with entirely.

The phrase originated as a cheer or cry allegedly shouted by [[Cowboy]]s in the [[The Wild West|Old West]]; like many things from [[The Western|Westerns]], it's probably completely fictional.  The version seen in the trope name comes from "yippie yi yo kayah", part of the refrain from the 1936 [[Bing Crosby]] song [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo-pApe1Kd0 "I'm An Old Cowhand (From the Rio Grande)"].  This eventually mutated in common usage into "yippee ki-yay ki-yoh", and from there lost the last two syllables.  It still retained its [[Cowboy]] connotations throughout this -- which is why it became [[Trope Maker|the comeback]] delivered by [[Bruce Willis]]'s very American John McClane when called [[Americans Are Cowboys|a "cowboy"]] by [[Alan Rickman]]'s German Hans Gruber in ''[[Die Hard]]''.  

And from there, it re-entered the meme pool with a new meaning and its original cowboy connotations mostly forgotten.

Not to be confused with ''[[Yippee Ki-Yay MF]]'', a 2007 TV show.

{{examples}}
== [[Film]] ==
* ''[[Alvin and The Chipmunks]]'', Alvin is chased by a guard. When he finds a spotlight to use, Alvin shouts 'Yippee ki-Ya, Mamacita".
* The [[Trope Maker]] ''and'' [[Trope Namer]] is the ''[[Die Hard]]'' series, where the entire phrase, including "motherfucker", becomes the [[Catch Phrase]] of John McClane, played by [[Bruce Willis]].

== [[Live-Action TV]] ==
* Network broadcasts of the ''[[Die Hard]]'' films routinely censor John McClane's [[Catch Phrase]] to the inexplicable and incomprehensible "Yippee ki-yay, Mister Falcon!"
* ''[[Yippee Ki-Yay MF]]'', the 2007 TV show mentioned in the main text, clearly draws on the defiant use of the phrase from ''[[Die Hard]]''.

== [[Western Animation]] ==
* In ''[[The Loud House]]'' episode, "Cereal Offender", Lynn screams the line to market shoppers while Lincoln was doing the grocery.
* In ''[[Big Mouth]]'', Monster Horrensess once tells of group of kids this, right down to "motherfucker", as she and her human partner exits the school.


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[[Category:{{BASEPAGENAME}}]]
[[Category:Pages Original to All The Tropes]]
[[Category:Stock Phrases]]
[[Category:Oh Great a Snark Index]]
[[Category:Dialogue]]
[[Category:One-Liner]]
[[Category:Insult Tropes]]
[[Category:Pre-Mortem One-Liner]]
[[Category:Defiant to the End]]