A listener from Dallas, Texas, wonders why we say “here, here” to cheer someone on, and “there, there” to calm someone down. Actually, the phrase is “hear, hear,” and it’s imperative, as in, listen to this guy. “There, there,” on the other hand is the sort of thing a parent might say to console a blubbering child, as in “There, there, I fixed it.” This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of “Here, Here and There, There”
Hello, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, this is Luke from Dallas, Texas.
Hi, Luke. How you doing?
Good. How are you?
All right. Welcome to the show.
What can we do for you?
I was wondering why we say hear, hear to cheer people on and celebrate things, and they’re there to calm people down when something goes wrong.
Hear, hear, and they’re there.
What do you think is happening here, Luke?
I don’t know. I know it has nothing to do with distance. That was my first thought.
Okay, good. Clearly, that really shouldn’t come into it.
I don’t know if maybe they both came from longer sayings and they got adapted into something shorter because we’re lazy speakers or if there’s a longer history to that.
That’s a good guess, too.
Let me ask you, Luke, how are you spelling here in here?
I always spelled it here as in like it’s right here, H-E-R-E.
Aha.
Aha.
Well, there you go. Because actually it’s H-E-A-R. Here, here is a shortened form of hear him, hear him. Sort of an imperative to listen to this guy. He’s got something to say.
The there, there is really interesting, and I’m not sure I’ve ever quite figured this out.
It’s a soothing thing to say, right? There, there.
And I don’t know, the best that I can figure is that it’s a comforting thing. I mean, it’s sort of like there, there, I just kissed your boo-boo, you know? Like, there. Oh, here now, honey, let me give you a hug when you’re feeling badly, right?
Yeah.
There’s a notion, though, with the there, that although it’s not exactly directional, you are pointing to something you’re about to say or to do that will make them feel a little better for whatever’s gone wrong.
Right, a pat on the head, a kiss on the boo-boo, that kind of thing. But it’s not so clear, right?
No, and it seems to be related to the there, I’m finished.
Yeah.
There you go, now you’re fixed. Yeah, drawing attention to something that is significant that will change your understanding or point of view or feelings.
Yeah, interesting. That repetition is interesting, too. I mean, I’m thinking of now, now, there, there.
Yeah, the idiomatic nature of that, Luke, of there, there, that’s part of the problem. Idioms tend to grow opaque over time and lose their connection to their roots, and they become mysteries when we try to break them down into their pieces.
Yeah.
See, I’ve never actually used that to calm somebody down. I use it sarcastically with my girlfriend when I’m sort of, you know, it’s there, there, it’s okay when she messes something up. I don’t actually know anybody who uses it to calm people down or say things are okay.
Yeah, I think it’s the same in my house. I have one of my cats, Whopper. He’s a big 18-pound black-and-white cat. And when he wants to be petted, he will touch you with his paw, and it looks exactly like he’s trying to comfort you. And that’s the joke in our house, which is Whopper saying, there, there, Papa, it’ll be okay.
I almost think of there, there as being more of a Britishism.
Oh, really?
Yeah, I don’t have any information on that, but it’s possible. Well, we’ll hear from our British listeners if that’s the case.
Hear, hear, Luke. That’s very good. That makes a lot more sense now that they’ve been split, too, that they’re not related.
Yeah.
Just a coincidence. They’ve been a lot more.
All right, cool. Thank you very much for your call, sir.
Yeah, no problem. Have a good day.
All right, take care now. Bye-bye.
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