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hooray


goodbye: I'm going home now, hooray. Compare hooroo, oo-roo.

Editor's comments: Is this regional, or is it used throughout Australia?


Contributor's comments: I remember my grandfather always using Hooroo. (say: Ooroo). But I'm not sure about Hooray.

Contributor's comments: I've heard some rural folk use this but tends to be lower class use.

Contributor's comments: The word 'hooray' is used to mean 'goodbye' in the Newcastle area of NSW.

Contributor's comments: [Sydney informant] As children we always pronounced it "Huh'-ray" when we meant "good-bye" (the accent on the first syllable), but "hoo-ray'", when expressing delight over a win, say, at footie.

Contributor's comments: [Brisbane informant] Our elderly neighbour, now deceased, always used this for goodbye.

Contributor's comments: I grew up in Newcastle and we always used Hooray when leaving. My Sydney friend always thought that I was happy to go until she moved to Newcastle. She then realised that everyone used the term.

Contributor's comments: "Ooroo" is also used in Melbourne and Geelong. I've heard people from NSW say "Hooroo" to mean the same thing. Also know someone from Brisbane who says "Hooray". It's interesting how the word changes slightly over distance.


Contributor's comments: I've often heard it used by older folk in the Taree/Wingham area of NSW.

Contributor's comments: Although it wasn't really my custom to use the expression, many around me did. "Hooray" as in "goodbye" was stressed on the first syllable whereas; "hooray" as in jubilation was stressed on the second syllable.

Contributor's comments: I first heard hooray as a goodbye term when I moved to Newcastle from Tassie in 1997. I find it's still used with reasonable frequency by a wide cross-section of community. At first I thought it must be a New-South-Welshism, but have never heard it outside of the Hunter region.

Contributor's comments: I grew up in Brisbane - we used hooray often to say farewell - certainly not restricted to "lower classes".

Contributor's comments: My grandfather always used this as a friendly goodbye, I took it to be an older man's variant of the colloquial 'see ya'.

Contributor's comments: As a child in Newcastle I frequently heard people say "hooroo" in instead of hello of goodbye. When I moved back to Perth I was surprised to hear people saying "hooray" (usually elderly people) in much the same way.

Contributor's comments: I've heard this word used both by my grandmother in Tully North Queensland and in Pyrmont where I grew up. I heard its use had died out but the working class of Pyrmont still use it. Like other contributors the accent is on the first syllable when used to mean goodbye or au revoir.

Contributor's comments: I grew up in Brisbane in the 60's and now live in FNQ, and I still use this term regularly to say goodbye in circumstances where "See ya!" or "Catch you later!" may not be appropriate and "Goodbye" too formal.

Contributor's comments: Until moving to Bundaberg in 1974 from Melbourne, I was used to this term being used for cheering like 'yippee!'. I was vaguely aware of it being used as a greeting. In Bundy it is used for the friendly good-bye. I noticed it was used by all age groups back then.

Contributor's comments: Hooray was widely used by country adults of a lower socio group when I was a pre teen. I am now hearing it again by some youngsters who like to keep some of the old language going eg'corker'and many others. Whilst not part of my vocabulary, I too enjoy hearing some of the older terms.

Contributor's comments: I grew up outside Gympie, Qld and this was used as our normal 'goodbye'. It seems to have been dropped and my grand daughter was amused one day when I said 'hooray' as she was leaving and wanted to know what it meant.