|
Reader question: Please explain “final hurrah” in this story (Darius Rucker planning final Hootie & The Blowfish tour, Hollywood.com, July 24, 2013): Rocker-turned-country star Darius Rucker is hoping to reunite Hootie & The Blowfish for one last album and tour. The singer/songwriter, who has six U.S. number one country hits to his name, tells Rolling Stone magazine he’s planning a final hurrah with his former bandmates after announcing a hiatus several years ago. My comments: Rucker is coming back. He’s doing a last concert before calling it quits, this time, perhaps, for ever. And, so, go to his concert and cheer for him for the last time. That’s the message, basically. Hurrah is the sound of cheers some European people make. Dictionary.com says “Hurrah” is “probably from German hurra”. At any rate, people in Europe shout “Hurrah” as a cheer. Final hurrah? That’s cheering for the final (last) time, literally. Final hurrah is a variation of “last hurrah”, a phrase which was popularized by American writer Edwin O’Connor, who wrote a book titled The Last Hurrah in 1956. That book is about a politician launching a last campaign running for mayor. In short, last hurrah, or final hurrah (which is the slightly less popular) represents a person’s last great performance or activity. Think of star singers and sportsmen. Their last hurrah will be their final performance, before the singers call it a career and the sportsmen hang up their boots (soccer), rackets (tennis) and sneakers (basketball). | 
