Who Dat?

Who dat? is an English idiom originating from New Orleans. First referenced in poetry, the phrase was a common dialogue element between the performers and crowd at traveling minstrel shows in the region. Eventually, the phrase became used in US cinematic productions for two decades, including TV and movies. In World War II, the phrase became known as a source of entertainment for American soldiers.

More recently, the phrase "Who dat?" has become a chant of team support. It is most widely used by fans of the New Orleans Saints, an American football team. The entire chant is: "Who dat? Who dat? Who dat say dey gonna beat dem Saints?" "Who dat" may also be used as a noun, describing a Saints fan.

The chant of "Who Dat?" originated in minstrel shows and vaudeville acts of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and was taken up by jazz and big band performers in the 1920s and '30s.

The first reference to "Who Dat?" can be found in the 19th Century in the poetry of Paul Laurence Dunbar, first in his poem "When Malindy Sings" and later in his lyrics to the song "Who Dat Say Chicken in dis Crowd", a featured song in Clorindy: The Origin of the Cakewalk, an "operetta" by Dunbar and Will Marion Cook that was first presented as part of E.E. Rice's 1898 show "Summer Nights". A common tag line in the days of Negro minstrel shows was: "Who dat?" answered by "Who dat say who dat?" Many different blackfaced gags played off that opening. Vaudeville performer Mantan Moreland was known for the routine. Another example is "Swing Wedding", a 1930s Harman-Ising cartoon musical, which caricatured Fats Waller, Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Ethel Waters, and the Mills Brothers as frogs in a swamp performing minstrel show jokes and jazz tunes. The frogs repeatedly used the phrase "who dat?"

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