Posted by Tom Napier on January 01, 2011 at 12:35:04 user Didymus.
In Reply to: Re: Coot Club: Who said "Three million cheers?" posted by Ed Kiser on January 01, 2011 at 10:04:53:
Thanks Ed.
I had a hunch someone would settle the matter with an exhaustive search. I found the result surprising. I'd thought there was an earlier usage than in CC but I couldn't put my finger on it, hence my original post. Even John has picked up a variant of the phrase.
If we allow three-squared = ten then there is an exponential scale of enthusiasm based on three cheers = unity. I remember similar pseudo-logical extensions of meaning from my own youth.
Three million cheers for searchable data-bases.