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acw | 10:05 Tue 14th Jun 2005 | Phrases & Sayings
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When writing "hear hear!" is it spelt hEAr rather than hERE?  I'm having a dizzy moment!  (I'm guessing hEAr by the way!)
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hear hear
Question Author
cheers! :)
Basically, people who shout that are saying: "Listen! Listen to the man!"
or woman

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.

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!)
QM - I can't see many men fighting for that right!
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
Question Author
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!
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
QM, I will call your bet, and whoever gets the stars wins!
Question Author
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. 

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

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.

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