"No way, José"

“No way, José” is a rhyming phrase meaning that there is no way, or that something is not happening or is impossible. The origin is unknown, so it’s not known if there was originally anyone named José.

“No Way, Jose” was printed in The Oregonian (Portland, OR) on February 3, 1966. “No Way, Jose” was printed in the Indianapolis (IN) Star in October 12, 1968, referring to baseball’s Jose Cardinal being thrown out trying to steal second base.

American comedian, actor, and screenwriter Bill Dana (1924-2017) played a heavily accented Bolivian character named José Jiménez on many television shows in the 1960s, but no early 1960s citation has been found connecting “no way, José” to José Jiménez.

The spellings “No way, hosay” and “noway hosay” have both been entered in the Urban Dictionary.

(Oxford English Dictionary)
slang. No way, José: absolutely not, definitely not.
1979 Washington Post 4 Dec. b1 I’ve got nothing against robots. But no way, Jose, is this guy going to win.
1988 New Yorker 29 Aug. 69 Stand up and trade punches with Tyson? No way, José.
2000 A. Sayle Barcelona Plates 101 ‘Couldn’t they find a teacher for themselves?’ No way José.

3 February 1966, The Oregonian (Portland, OR), sec. 3, pg. 6, col. 3:
No Way, Jose
Could you find a better buy than this 10-year-old, 3-BR rancho, with family room, fireplace, intercom, oversized garage, built in dishwasher, large lot.
(Guarantee Realty.—ed.)

12 October 1968, Indianapolis (IN) Star, pg. 25, col. 5 photo caption:
NO WAY, JOSE—Chicago shortstop Luis Aparicio takes a throw to nail Cleveland’s Jose Cardinal in yesterday’s first game. Cardinal had tried to steal second base in the first inning. (AP Wirephoto)

4 September 1970, Sacramento (CA) Bee, pg. D2, col. 8 ad:
LEAVING SO. SACRAMENTO?
NO WAY JOSE!
(Frank Cate Ford car dealership.—ed.)

3 April 1971, Calgary (Alberta) Herald, “Stamp Out Cliche Power” by David Cobb, Canadian Magazine, pg. 25, col. 1:
No Way. (“No way, José.”)

24 June 1971, The Leader-Post (Regina, Saskatchewan), “Winnipeg races,” pg. 28, col. 4:
No way Jose
(The name of a horse.—ed.)

27 July 1972, Wichita (KS) Times, “Happy Helpers Make Happy Food!,” pg. 6, col. 4:
“We are a family. Can you imagine if one child wanted hamburger and the other wanted pork chops? No way, Jose!”
(Spoken by Gail Fisher, an actress.—ed.)

30 March 1973, The Globe and Mail (Toronto, ON), “Around Toronto This Week—Theatre,” TV-Entertainment Guide, pg. T2, col. 2:
NO WAY JOSE A documentary musical revue about unemployment and welfare. Opens April 5 at S. Paul’s Avenue Road Church, 121 Avenue Road 967-6584.

OCLC WorldCat record
No Way Jose
Author: Michael Kirby; Pierre Gallant; Open Circle Theatre Archives (University of Guelph); Toronto, Ontario.
Publisher: 1973.
Edition/Format: Print book : Manuscript Archival Material : English

OCLC WorldCat record
[Commercials. Taco Viva. Restaurant. No way Jose]
Publisher: 1983.
Edition/Format: Film : Film Visual material : English

OCLC WorldCat record
No way, José! = De ninguna manera, José! : a story in two languages
Author: Joe Hayes; Lucy Jelinek
Publisher: Santa Fe, N.M. : Trails West Pub., 1986.
Edition/Format: Print book : Fiction : Juvenile audience : English : 1st edView all editions and formats
Summary:
Anxious to get to his uncle’s wedding, a bossy rooster orders all the animals to help him but they all give him the same reply.

Urban Dictionary
No way, hosay.
When you’re too white enough to say “No way, Jose”.
Rory: I bet you looooooooooooovvvvveeeeeeeee him, right?
Trixie: No way, hosay.
#funny#silly#random#white#no way#jose
by Roooooooooooory March 24, 2008

Urban Dictionary
noway hosay
An incorrect way of saying No Way, Jose. Alot of Britsh kids say it. An urban myth is that some Brit kids think that hosay means ” a hose that at the end has sumone going wahayyy”. This is incorrect.

It is No Way Jose.
(...)
by Vincent Is A Baller August 28, 2009

Urban Dictionary
No way Jose
No chance in hell
Constance: He asked me out
Isabel: What did you say?
Constance: No way Jose!
#no#unlikely#hell#probably not#no way
by $hane Mcmahon January 22, 2014

Urban Dictionary
no way Jose
one of Michelle Tanner famous catch phrases from Full House. If only the Olsen’s were on Fuller house spinoff.
when Joey shows Michelle the dancing flower, she replies “No way Jose”
via giphy
#michelle tanner
by 000CAta April 09, 2017