Idiom "Hear hear"

[Haihao]

Hi,

Could you tell me if the idiom 'Hear hear' has only the ironical meaning for 'agree' or does not have to be so?

haiaho

[Alan]

Hi,

It suggests that you are expressing total agreement with what has been said. If you are sitting in an audience listening to a speaker and something they say strikes you as absolutely right, you would call out: 'Hear, hear' and thereby signal your agreement with the sentiment expressed. If you listen to a debate in our (UK) Parliament, you can often here members call out these words.

A
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