CULTURE/SOCIETY and (sorta) BOOKS: A Look at the Word "Hubba-Hubba"

I got this from a subscription service. I ordered because my friend got some great quotes from it, but I never seemed to get any. But the subscription's main service was a "word.a.day". And "Hubba-hubba" was one of the words. The following is the responses this word got from some subscribers.

Date: Tue Jun 14 00:01:08 EDT 2005
Subject: A.Word.A.Day--hubba-hubba

hubba-hubba (HUB-uh HUB-uh) interjection

Used to express approval, enthusiasm, or excitement.
Also, akin to wolf whistle.

[Of unknown origin.]

"On Erin Wheeler's first Valentine's Day with her then fiancee,
she received a card featuring a hippo in a tutu on front and a
'Hubba, hubba,' written inside. Enough said."
Annie Pierce; Love American-Style: The Female Take; Columbian
(Vancouver, Washington); Feb 12, 1999.

"I also received a few messages of the hubba-hubba variety from my
female readers, which were greatly appreciated."
Robert X Cringely; IE Nixed, Mozilla Fixed; Infoworld (San Francisco,
California); Jul 30, 2004.

From: Mary Stewart (indiansmaryATaol.com)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A-Day--hubba-hubba

I associate the expression "hubba hubba" with burlesque show humor. If repeated by a well-endowed, scantily clad female it causes her torso to rise and fall in a manner most pleasing to the male audience, who shout "hubba hubba" back to her.

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From: Goldie Silverman (goldie.silvermanATcomcast.net)
Subject: hubba-hubba

When I was a teenager in the 1940s, hubba-hubba referred to a girl with breasts. A common ploy was this: a boy would say to a girl, "Can you touch your elbows behind your back?" When she tried to do this (try it and see what happens to your chest), he would say, "Hubba-hubba!")

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From: Adrian Ashmore-Price (scoutsATninefish.co.nz)
Subject: Re: A.Word.A.Day--hubba-hubba

Down here in New Zealand this has another less savoury meaning.
I guess it's still an interjection though :-)

For many kiwis hubba-hubba is sex, to the point that there's a national advertising campaign to young adults with the byline of no hubba hubba without a rubber, set to a hip-hop anthem and delivered by graffiti styled characters.

But in the end what better expression of approval, enthusiasm and excitement can there be?

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From: Martha Miller (marthamillerATtelus.net)
Subject: hubba-hubba

In the fierce world of an elementary school playground, one of our favorite taunts to any girl and boy we spied talking together was: "Hubba hubba, ding ding, don't forget the wedding ring!"

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From: Nancy Wilson (wilsonnaATsonic.net)
Subject: Hubba-hubba

I remember hearing this, growing up as an Army brat in post-war Hawaii, and always associated it with military slang. The line "Hubba-hubba, ding ding, baby you've got everything" came to mind, and Google says that was from a song by Vince Maloy.

Then I went to Stuart Berg Flexner's "I Hear America Talking" and found this:

"Hubba-hubba, 1941, wide armed forces use in World War II. It's from the Chinese greeting "how-pu-how" and was first used by air force personnel, who got it from Chinese pilots being trained at an air force base in Florida. It was made very popular by radio comedian Bob Hope, who broadcast his weekly show from military bases during the war, using armed forces terms and references to get laughs."

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From: Kelly Shannon (kshannonATcybermesa.com)
Subject: hubba-hubba

I first heard "hubba-hubba" as kid during WWII at the age of 10 or 11; used by GIs. Examples:
"All right, everybody outside for mail-call. Lets go, hubba-hubba."
or
"Serg. wants this truck loaded on the double!, hubba-hubba!"

In, "A Browser's Dictionary and Native's Guide to the Unknown American Language," by John Ciardi, Harpers & Row, Publishers, 1980, Mr. Ciardi writes the following note p.192: hubba-hubba WWII. A variable expressive. When shouted by troops, a cry of enthusiasm. When shouted by an officer or a noncom, a command to react enthusiastically and on the double. [Based on 'hubbub.' It is the fixed dementia of the military mind that troops can be made enthusiastic by being ordered to shout.]

I have to admit that the meaning of "hubba-hubba" that I know from growing up in the '70's - yes, I was an Eric Forman type character, but without the leadership or hot girlfriend - actually I was a lot like the boy in Freaks and Geeks, if anyone remembers that excellent tv show that unfortunately only lasted one year!

But as I was saying, in the '70's in my neck of the woods, "hubba-hubba" wasn't used very much... but we all knew what it meant - that girl is hot! In that way, I suppose it's not that different from what people were saying here.

Did - or does - "hubba-hubba" have a different meaning where any of you are from?