PILLALOO/ˈpɪləl(j)uː/

A cry of lamentation or distress.

This is an Irish word and one not known outside Ireland, or even much within it these days, the word having dropped out of ordinary speech. You may find it spelled pililiú, or pililoo or in other ways. It’s a close relative of whillaloo” and ululu, two other Irish words with similar senses.

The Oxford English Dictionary tells us pillaloo began its life centuries ago as a hunting cry. Among its appearances was that in 1888 in

In which “pillaloo” is shouted.

The Astonishing History of Troy Town by Q (Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch), though you might have some difficulty picking the sense out of his representation of the local speech:

An’ the wust was, that what wi’ the rumpus an’ her singin’ out “Pillaloo!” an’ how the devil was amongst mun, havin’ great wrath, the Lawyer’s sarmon about a “wecked an’ ’dulterous generation seekin’ arter a sign” was clean sp’iled.

Henry Murray’s usage in Lands of the Slave and the Free of 1857 is very much easier on the modern eye and ear:

The dialogue was brought to a sudden stop by the frantic yell of the juvenile pledge of their affections, whose years had not yet reached two figures; a compact little iron-bound box had fallen on his toe, and the poor little urchin’s pilliloo, pilliloo, was pitiful.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE

World Wide Words is copyright © Michael Quinion, 1996–2008. All rights reserved. Contact the author if you want to reproduce this piece, but first see our advice page, which also has notes about linking. Your comments and corrections are welcome.