What does "Yippie kay-yay" mean?

it's "cowboy" for gitty up, hear it in the song

"Ghost Riders In The Sky"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxn48wSiCzg

this song is also in The Blues Brothers

Yippee Kay Yay

It is the refrain from an old cowboy song entitled "The Old Chisholm Trail". Those particular words are spelled differently in lyric listings because they are the interpretation of a kind of cowboy yodel. Randy Travis recently redid it. It played in the background of a lot of old western movies. Roy Rogers did it and one of the earliest recordings is by Harry (Haywire Mac) McClintock in 1928.

An archetypal example of folk songs related to occupations, ''The Old Chisholm Trail'' is a singsong square-dancey number that offers a matter-of-fact account of all the mishaps that can befall an aspiring cowpuncher on his first job. It rains, his horse is injured, and instead of ending up with some pocket change, he has to pay his boss for his mistakes.

... kind of like what happens to Bruce in the movie!

The earliest occurrence of the "term" on TV that I know of is Desi Arnas rendition of Texas Pete here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=37&v=lic2oj0otV4

That was long before Die hard or even Johny Cash s song.

It is an onomatopoeic uttering, like yoohoo, ahaa, giddyup without a definite meaning. expresses a feeling of confidently affirmation of optimism or impetus to action like "all right!" or "come on!". Bruce Willis used it in a sarcastic manner by paraphrasing am old time cowboy s expression.

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RE:

What does "Yippie kay-yay" mean?

i just watched movie Die Hard... did not get the meaning of "Yippie kay-yay"... of course without Mother^%^@...

is that english??

i got my engagement ring a couple of months ago from KAY jewelers. i got a 1.5 carat LEO diamond and it was more than i want to share on here, but let's say, my man got me the best ring there and i love it and i love my fiancee'. i like the commercial they air on tv and the radio stations. it is so romantic i think. i wear my bling bling proudly and regardless or not of the quality of my diamond, every kiss you share should be a special one.

It's slang - I think they used it a lot in some of the old westerns...it's like saying Yippee or woo hoo, or something.

I think it is a mustering term from the old west, from the cattle herders as they drove the cattle to the railway towns in the US.

Cowboy and Indians period over there.

when a sexy cowboy says it, i automatically think, mount up!