Hear, hear
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
Look up hear, hear in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
Hear, hear is an expression used as a short repeated form of hear ye and hear him. It represents a listener's agreement with the point being made by a speaker.
It was originally an imperative for directing attention to speakers, and has since been used, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, as "the regular form of cheering in the House of Commons", with many purposes depending on the intonation of its user.[1] It is often incorrectly spelled "here here", especially on websites[2] and IM.[3]
The phrase hear him, hear him! was used in Parliament since the late 1600s, and had been reduced to hear! or hear, hear! by the late 1700s. The verb hear had earlier been used in the King James Bible as a command for others to listen.[1]
Other phrases have been derived from hear, hear, such as a hear, hear (a cheer), to hear-hear (to shout the expression), and hear-hearer (a person who does the same).[1]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b c "Words@Random: The Mavens' Word of the Day: hear, hear". Random House. 1998-03-04. http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=19980304. Retrieved on 2008-10-13.
- ^ O'Connell, Pamela Licalzi (2004-01-15). "Online Diary: Vive la Différence". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/15/technology/circuits/15diar.html?ex=1224043200&en=d6241366464ab104&ei=5070. Retrieved on 2008-10-13. "The situation is dire for some phrases. On the Web, "here here" outpolls the correct "hear hear" [according to the website SpellWeb] 153,000 to 42,000."
- ^ McCann, John (2009-04-17). "Silly John". Xfire. http://www.xfire.com/blog/chad3814/632268/. Retrieved on 2009-04-17. "[17:49] [Xfire] Artaxs (artaxs): I think it's "here""
[edit] External links
- President Bush Addresses Australian Parliament, a transcript with examples of its use by the Parliament of Australia, from the official White House website.
