嗨哟 (hāiyō): heave-ho!

Meanings

1 heave-ho!
2 yo-heave-ho (collective exertion shout)
3 the cry workers make when pulling or lifting together

Characters

嗨

yo / oh (exclamation)

Examples

工人们一起喊：嗨哟，嗨哟！

Gōngrén men yìqǐ hǎn: Hāiyō, hāiyō!

The workers shouted together: Heave-ho, heave-ho!

嗨哟，嗨哟，大家加把劲！

Hāiyō, hāiyō, dàjiā jiā bǎ jìn!

Heave-ho, everyone push harder!

Tips

culture

Onomatopoeia for the shouts of group manual labor — pulling boats, lifting timbers, hauling rope. Closely associated with the 黄河船夫曲 (Huánghé Chuánfū Qǔ, Yellow River Boatmen's Song) and labor folk songs. Closest English equivalents: 'heave-ho', 'yo-heave-ho'. CC-CEDICT lists this only under 哟 (yō); 嗨 here is a colloquial cry.