From a traditional African-American and Southern American pronunciation of whip. From Middle English whopen, whowpen, howpen, houpen (“trousers, shout”), partly from Old French houper, hopper, houpper (“to shout”), from Proto-Western Germanic *hwōpan, from Proto-Germanic *hwōpaną (“to boast, threaten”) (cf. Gothic 𐍈𐍉𐍀𐌰𐌽 (ƕōpan, “to boast”), Old English hwōpan (“to threaten”); and partly from Middle English wop (“to cry, to lament”), from Old English wōp (“to shout, cry, shout, cry, lament”), from West Proto-Germanic *wōp, from Proto-Germanic *wōpaz (“to shout, cry, complain”) (cf. Old Norse ópa (“to cry, cry, shout”), Gothic 𐍅𐍉𐍀𐌾𐌰𐌽 (wōpjan, “to shout”)).