Jonathan Swift invented the word "Yahoo" in his book Gulliver's Travels to describe a race of brutes with the form and vices of humans whom Gulliver encountered in his fourth and final voyage.
They represented Swift's view of mankind at its lowest and the word "yahoo" has since come to be applied to any actual human who was particularly unpleasant or unintelligent.
The Yahoos were controlled by the intelligent and virtuous Houyhnhnms which apparently did not catch people's fancy as much as "yahoo" did.
If you have anything to add to this story, please email me at pgoerman@houyhnhnms.com.
