Macquarie Dictionary

or

Australian Word Map

Back to regionalism list

There are 1 results of your search for hooroo.

hooroo


Goodbye! Compare hooray, oo-roo.

Contributor's comments: Hooroo also understood in Brisbane and Darwin in 50's and 60's.

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

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: Goodbye: "We're off then. Hooroo."

Contributor's comments: [Used in] Ballarat/Swan Hill (Vic). Not heard at my current residence Qld 4350.

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 was educated in the south east of SA and hooroo (ooroo) was commonly used.

Contributor's comments: Hooroo has also been used as a "sign off" by Molly Meldrum who used to finish his programs with "Hooroo from the guru". Don Burke from Burke's Backyard also signs off from his program with "Hooroo".

Contributor's comments: I can't believe nobody's mentioned Don Burke yet! (TV show "Burke's Backyard" in case anyone somehow doesn't know him) Don Burke surely ends every show with "Hooroo", and has for as long as I can remember.

Contributor's comments: With or without the 'h' this was widely used in Adelaide in the 50s.

Contributor's comments: I was 26 when I moved from Murwillumbah to Newcastle. Having grown up in Sydney, I'd lived in Armidale, Yamba and Grafton before Newcastle and had never heard this expression before. The first time I heard it I had no idea what was going on. I heard hooroo and hooray both with the h pronounced....

Contributor's comments: Not so much a comment on its regional use, as wondering about the origins of the use of "Hooray", "Hooroo" and "Ooroo". Is it possible it may have started with the use of "Hurrah" or "Hurray"? Perhaps used as workers celebrated leaving their employment for the day or went on holiday, or perhaps children as they left school? I have also heard New Zealanders using "Hooray".

Contributor's comments: Used widely in my family who came from the Riverina area of NSW; last heard from my uncle born who died 1995 on his death bed.