What is the meaning and origin of saying -” HIP HIP ” before the word “HOORAY”?
“The old fanciful explanation of the origin of this cry is that ‘hip’ is a notarikon, composed of the initials Hierosolyma est perdita and that when German knightts headed a Jew-hunt in the Middle Ages, they ran shouting ‘Hip! Hip!’, as much as to say ‘Jerusalem is destroyed’. ‘Hurrah’ was similarly fancifully derived from Slavonic hu-raj (‘to paradise’), so that ‘Hip! Hip! Hurrah!’ would mean ‘Jerusalem is lost to the infidel and we are on the road to Paradise’.’Hip’ is actually of unknown origin, but ‘hurrah’ or ‘hooray’ are alterations of ‘huzzah’ itself said bythe 17th century writers to be a sailor’s cheer.” http://cantmissthis.blogspot.com/…/…sion-hip-hip.
