Hook 'em Horns

Hook 'em Horns is the slogan and hand signal of The University of Texas at Austin. Students and alumni of the university employ a greeting consisting of the phrase "Hook 'em" or "Hook 'em Horns" and also use the phrase as a parting good-bye or as the closing line in a letter or story.

The gesture is meant to approximate the shape of the head and horns of the UT mascot, the Texas Longhorn Bevo. The sign is made by extending the index and pinky fingers while grasping the second and third fingers with the thumb. The arm is usually extended, but the sign can also be given with the arm bent at the elbow. The sign is often seen at sporting events, during the playing of the school song "The Eyes of Texas", and during the playing of the school fight song "Texas Fight". It is one of the most recognized hand signals of all American universities. A variant of the Horns, formed upside down with the thumb pointed outward, is often used by rivals of the Longhorns and is considered insulting, especially when performed by a player or coach of the team in question.

The first known usage of the "Hook 'em" phrase can be attributed to the University of Minnesota through the 1930s. Just like the 12th Man, however, Minnesota didn't trademark the phrase or the hand signal. Neither did the University of Iowa. There was also a Texas basketball team during this era known as the "Hook 'Em Cows" which may have contributed to the use of the phrase and gesture at the University of Texas. Harley Clark later introduced the Hook 'em Horns sign in 1955. Clark was a member of the Tejas Club, as well as head cheerleader at UT, a position that was elected by the student body. "It was second only in importance to the Texas governor," he jokes. Clark got the idea for the hand-sign from his colleagues Tom Butts and Henry Pitts, who had been casting shadows on the wall at the Texas Union. In addition, the "gig 'em" thumbs up hand signal created by archrival Texas A&M University twenty five years earlier was growing in popularity across the state and a similar hand signal was desired by The University of Texas. Clark showed an enthusiastic student body the sign a few nights later at a football pep rally at Gregory Gym. According to Neal Spelce, who attended the rally when he was a student at the university, "a lot of people didn't get it right at first," but it caught on rapidly from there. By the thousands, students extended an arm to create the now famous salute. The next day, at the Texas Longhorn vs. TCU football game, Clark stood in awe as the "Hook 'em Horns" hand sign surged from one side of the stadium to the other. UT went on to lose that game to the Jim Swink led TCU Horned Frogs 47 to 20. Ironically, the "Gig 'em Aggies" yell was created at a Midnight Yell practice at Texas A&M in 1930, also before a game against TCU.

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