March 4, 1998

hear, hear

Is the parliamentary shout "Hear, hear," "Here, here," both, or neither?

The shout is hear, hear.

The original form of this expression was hear him, which was usually repeated. This imperative was used to call attention to a speaker's words, and naturally developed the sense of a broad expression of favor. This is how it is still used today, although one can always vary one's tone to express different sentiments; the Oxford English Dictionary noted around the turn of the century that hear, hear "is now the regular form of cheering in the House of Commons, and expresses, according to intonation, admiration, acquiescence, indignation, derision, etc."

As a parliamentary cheer, hear him, hear him! is first recorded in the late seventeenth century and continued into the nineteenth; the reduction to hear! or hear, hear! occurred by the late eighteenth century. However, the use of the verb hear as an imperative meaning 'listen!' is older: a notable example is the parliamentary-sounding "Then cried a wise woman out of the city, Hear, hear" (King James Bible, 2 Samuel xx 16).

Aside from the interjection, a number of other forms are found, such as a hear, hear (originally, of course, a hear him) 'a cheer'; hear-hear 'to shout "hear, hear!"'; and hear-hearer 'a person who shouts "hear, hear!"'.