ballahoon.

Etymology: Origin uncertain. Perhaps a transferred use of balao n. (attested 1795 as ballahoo ; compare discussion below), perhaps immediately after or via Spanish balahú, balajú small ship used in the Bay of Biscay, type of schooner common in the Antilles (although this is apparently not attested until later: 1831 or earlier), itself probably a transferred use of the fish name baláou (see balao n.), perhaps with allusion to the vessel's shape, speed, or lively movement in the water. Compare French balaou a kind of schooner used in the Caribbean (1793 or earlier) beside balaou as a fish name (1713 in Ray). Compare ballyhoo n.¹, ballyhoo of blazes n.Compare earlier use of Ballahou as the name of several ships in the British navy:1969 J. J. Colledge Ships Royal Navy I. 62 Ballahou Gunvessel in service in 1800. Ballahou Schooner 4, 78bm, 56 x 18 ft. Bermuda 1804. Captured 29.4.1814 by the American privateer Perry off the N. American coast.With the name of the latter (also recorded as Balahou , Balahoo ), compare the following, which appears to support connection with balao n.:1837 W. James Naval Hist. Great Brit. V. 45 These king's schooners, 12 in number, and named Ballahou, Baracouta, Capelin, Grouper, Haddock, Herring, Kingfish [aka Flying Fish], Mackarel, Pilchard, Pike, Snapper, and Whiting, were all launched and at sea in the course of the year 1804.With use as a term of contempt (compare ballyhoo n.¹, ballyhoo of blazes n.), compare further:1837 W. James Naval Hist. Great Brit. III. note i. to abstract 13 These vessels [sc. the schooners listed above] were a disgrace to the British navy...Their very appearance as ‘men of war’ raised a laugh at the expense of the projector...Moreover..these ‘king's schooners’ were found to sail wretchedly, and proved so crank and unseaworthy, that almost every one of them that escaped capture went to the bottom with the unfortunate men on board. R. Allsop Dict. Caribbean Eng. Usage (1996) 74/2 compares with sense 2 Island Carib bàlaoüa sea.