What is "ballyhoo"

ballyhoo \bal"ly*hoo\ v. t. [imp. & p. p. ballyhooed; p. pr. & vb. n. ballyhooing.] to advertize or publicize noisily or blatantly.

ballyhoo \bal"ly*hoo\ n. noisy or blatant advertizing or publicity.

"publicity, hype," 1908, from circus slang, "a short sample of a sideshow" (1901), which is of unknown origin. There is a village of Ballyhooly in County Cork, Ireland. In nautical lingo, ballahou or ballahoo (1867, perhaps 1836) meant "an ungainly vessel," from Spanish balahu "schooner."

Etymology 1 n. 1 sensational or clamorous advertising or publicity. 2 noisy shouting or uproar. vb. To sensationalise or make grand claims. Etymology 2

n. (taxlink Hemiramphus brasiliensis species noshow=1), an inshore, surface-dwelling species of needlefish forming sizeable schools. Etymology 3

n. An unseaworthy or slovenly ship.

1. n. blatant or sensational promotion [syn: hoopla, hype, plug]

2. v. advertize noisily or blatantly

Ballyhoo is an interactive fiction computer game designed by Jeff O'Neill and published by Infocom in 1985. It was released for ten different 8 and 16-bit platforms, including MS-DOS, Atari ST, and Commodore 64. It is Infocom's nineteenth game.

With a circus-themed plot, the game's tagline was "Big-time suspense under the Big Top!"

The Ballyhoo halfbeak or Ballyhoo, (Hemiramphus brasiliensis), is a baitfish of the halfbeak family ( Hemiramphidae). It is similar to the Balao halfbeak in most features. Ballyhoo are frequently used as cut bait and for trolling purposes by saltwater sportsmen,. The fish is known to have reports of ciguatera poisoning to humans .

The fish also known as Balahu, Redtailed balao, Yellowtail ballyhoo, Ballyhoo can also be seen above the waters skimming the surface to escape from their predators. The appearance is similar to skipping stones on the water.

Ballyhoo is a baitfish species.

Ballyhoo may also refer to:

• Ballyhoo (video game), published 1986
• Ballyhoo (magazine), published 1931–1954 intermittently
• Ballyhoo!, a band from Baltimore, MD
• Ballyhoo, a bagatelle-style pinball game first released in 1932, named for the magazine. It was the first pinball machine made by Bally, whose name was inspired by this game.
• Ballyhoo (album), 1997 Echo & the Bunnymen album
• A character in Artix Entertainment games
• A synonym for Media circus
• Ballyhoo, publicity or hype (from Ballyhooly)

• Ballyhoo (South African band)

Ballyhoo is a compilation album by Echo & the Bunnymen, released in 1997. Liner notes were written by the group's former manager Bill Drummond.

Ballyhoo is a South African musical group, who had a charts-topping hit in South Africa in 1981 with Man on the Moon, which reached number 1 in and spent 19 weeks in the charts.

The band was formed in Johannesburg in 1974. The original lineup consisted of:

• Derrick Drain - vocals
• Attie van Wyk - keyboards
• Mick Matthews - guitar and vocals
• Fergie Ferguson - bass and vocals
• Cedric Samson - drums

Ballyhoo was a humor magazine published by Dell, created by George T. Delacorte Jr., and edited by Norman Anthony ("Former Editor Life and Judge"), from 1931 until 1939, with a couple of attempts to resuscitate the magazine (Now edited by Bill Yates) after the war between 1948 and 1954.

In common with other magazines of the era it featured a central section dedicated to one-off cartoons, but in the surrounding pages, it presented spoof ads and articles much in the manner later popularized by the 1950s magazine Mad. When questioned about this at a gathering of the British SSI (Society of Strip Illustrators), " The usual gang of idiots" from Mad were unequivocal in their response: "We know nuthin', and what's more we ain't sayin'".

Delacorte's publishing history up to this point had been in digest-sized magazines of the kind not normally of interest to advertisers, so spoofing advertisements in Ballyhoo held no fears for him. Launched during the worst of the Great Depression, the first issue sold out within a week. Real advertisers flocked to place ads. However, Anthony was concerned real ads would not be in the true spirit of Ballyhoo and demanded they should fit in with the magazine's editorial policy. What this actually resulted in was the Ballyhoo editorial staff writing the advertising dialogue, leaving very little difference between the real and spoof ads. An ad for a radio kicked off with the bannerline, "Now! All the crap in the world... At your finger tips!" and ended with "...It will do everything but give you good programs and Gawd knows no set will do that" while a spoof ad merely pointed out the advantages of balanced radio. A balanced radio will stand on the window ledge so you can receive a decent signal, whilst an unbalanced radio will fall off.

Ballyhoo's success led, of course, to a number of imitators (One even called itself 'Hullaballo'), and requests to use the Ballyhoo brand name to sell almost everything from boardgames to bras; in 1931 the magazine inspired the Ballyhoo pinball machine. Sales peaked at almost two million but started slipping towards the end of the decade when the decision was taken to close the magazine down. There were two attempts to relaunch, one in 1948, and another in 1952. Ironically this final attempt folded in 1954, the year before Mad flipped from comic book to magazine format.

In the 1960s, the title Ballyhoo was used for a men's magazine, which also failed to set the world alight. According to the Magazine Data File, there was a 1950s British Ballyhoo, which was probably unrelated to the American magazine. According to The Fiction Mags Index, there was a later 1950s Australian Ballyhoo humor magazine which reprinted earlier editions of the American magazine.