hip hip hooray

Meaning

Interjection

• An exclamation of congratulations and/or celebration especially in response to a call for 'Three cheers for' the person. Often the person calling for the cheers will yell 'Hip! Hip!' and the crowd replying 'Hooray!'

Origin

• Recorded as far back as 1803. The word hip was in use then as a meaningless syllable to get someone's attention. Hooray (or hurrah) goes back to 1686, and also had no specific meaning, used instead to get a person's attention.
• A folk etymology for this interjection suggests it comes from the anti-Semitic 1819 German , however many examples of "Hip Hip" exist in English prior to 1819. For example, The Life of Pill Garlick, written by Edmond Temple and published in London in 1813 contains the following (p. 243):
• ::The first toast “Success to Pill Garlick lick and his saucy crew,” was drank with nine times nine, hip! hip! hip! and a hoora! The tumult was excessive.