Hurrah

[acw]

When writing "hear hear!" is it spelt hEAr rather than hERE?  I'm having a dizzy moment!  (I'm guessing hEAr by the way!)

[jno]

hear hear

[acw]

cheers! :)

[Quizmonster]

Basically, people who shout that are saying: "Listen! Listen to the man!"

[justineo]

or woman

[Octavius]

The correct term is, "hear, hear!"

Apparently it is an abbreviation for

"hear, all ye good people, hear what this brilliant and eloquent speaker has to say!"

Thanks for listening.

[Quizmonster]

Given that the place where the cry: "Hear! Hear!" is most frequently heard in Britain is the Palace of Westminster and that male MPs/Peers considerably outnumber female ones, it is far more likely to mean "Listen to the man", which is why I presented it thus, Justineo.
Modifying all such statements to cater for all genders makes one end up in a Monty Pythonesque situation, whereby we can argue that a man has a perfect right to have a baby despite the fact that he hasn't got a womb!
(This is a joke, by the way!)

[Octavius]

QM - I can't see many men fighting for that right!

[Quizmonster]

It's an actual scene from 'The Life of Brian', O, where one of the male characters decides he really wants to be called Loretta and have a baby! He claims to feel oppressed when John Cleese's character points out that he lacks the necessary organ. So, he seemed to want that right! Cheers

[acw]

Gawd I'm glad I cancelled the emails from this thread!!  I know what it means and where it comes from!  That's why I said I was having a dizzy moment but was fairly certain it was hear hear.  I only wanted to know the spelling.  Still - chat away guys - the emails aren't coming to me so I don't care!

[Quizmonster]

Ah, but ma'am, when one posts a question here on AnswerBank, one has created "a hostage to fortune"! The question, in effect, becomes no longer your own, as it were. I'm betting that - despite your cancelling further e-mails on the topic - you will be back here to see this and whatever else anyone cares to add! Go on...be honest...give me a star or two to show I was right. Cheers

[Octavius]

QM, I will call your bet, and whoever gets the stars wins!

[acw]

Sorry - but QM was right.  I was interested to see if anyone actually cared enough about the spelling of "hear"/the debate surrounding it, to bother coming back again!  And I was right.  So therefore QM was right.  A full 3 stars. 

[Octavius]

QM - acw fell for it, shall we split the 20p?

[Quizmonster]

Split something I've won fair and square, O!? You've got to be joking! Thanks for the stars, though, A...it was brave of you.