Comments on: Hear me say it here!

Question: Hear me say it here!

WolfDaddy — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:08:13 -0800

"Hear hear" or "here here"? What's the correct way to express this exclamation in writing?

By: cmonkey

cmonkey — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:09:41 -0800

By: tdismukes

tdismukes — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:11:49 -0800

I've always thought that "Hear, hear!" was correct, as the meaning translates to roughly "Hear what's being said, because it's good and true."

I don't have any authoritative cites, however.

By: littleme

littleme — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:15:02 -0800

Hansard, the definitive report of UK parliamentary proceedings, is pretty good as far as an authoritative citing goes; first link from Google for 'hasard hear hear' is
here (or, indeed, hear).

By: amf

amf — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 09:23:30 -0800

The same expression exists in German, and it's "hört, hört" which means "hear, hear".

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 10:03:09 -0800

You are exhorting someone to listen, not calling a puppy. "Hear."

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 10:05:19 -0800

HEAR/HERE here.

By: jdroth

jdroth — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 11:24:38 -0800

Though Patrick O'Brian was a late-twentieth century writer, he wrote of Napoleonic-era Europe. He often has characters proclaim, "Hear him! Hear him!" after somebody gives a particularly rousing speech. I've been assuming that O'Brian's usage is based on something (though I know not what), and is sort of a bridge between what came before and the "Hear! Hear!" that is sometimes used today.

By: languagehat

languagehat — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 11:38:47 -0800

Do you not have a dictionary?

By: yerfatma

yerfatma — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 12:40:22 -0800

jdroth, you beat me to it.

By: nomis

nomis — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 14:30:11 -0800

I pronounce "hear" and "here" differently, and it's definitely "hear hear" for me.

By: dhartung

dhartung — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 15:43:33 -0800

This is one of those malapropisms I wish I could banish from the web.

By: philfromhavelock

philfromhavelock — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 16:03:43 -0800

>I pronounce "hear" and "here" differently, and it's definitely "hear hear" for me.
posted by nomis at 2:30 PM PST on November 1 [!]

Really? How do you pronounce them? I've always thought of them as homonyms.

By: leftoverboy

leftoverboy — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 19:04:25 -0800

Tell me too! How do you pronounce them differently?

By: Malor

Malor — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 05:45:53 -0800

A cute kid's book, The Phantom Tollbooth, had an area where everyone had been silenced, and someone was carrying a sign, "Hear here!"

:)

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 06:58:20 -0800

nomis is a New Zealander, so presumably his "ee" is slightly more raised than his "ea"; you can hear the difference (if you listen closely and repeatedly) here for the words beer and bear and here for here, hair, ear, and air. (Audio files from this page.)

By: languagehat

languagehat — Wed, 02 Nov 2005 06:58:57 -0800

Er, and by "ee" I mean the sound in here. Sorry 'bout that.