cheerio, int. colloq.
(ˈtʃɪərɪəˈʊ)
Also cheerioh, (earlier) cheero, cheer o.
[f. cheer v. 10 b + O int., influenced later by cheery a.]
A parting exclamation of encouragement; ‘goodbye’. Also quasi-adj.: cheery.
| 1910 Punch 12 Jan. 23 [One loafer to another] Cheero, Charlie. 1914 R. Brooke Let. 20 Nov. (1968) 634 Cheeryo! (as we say in the Navy). 1915 in ‘W. N. P. Barbellion’ Enjoying Life (1919) 53 We just go on calling out ‘The Devil a bit! Cheero!’. 1915 Rosher In R.N.A.S. (1916) 66 Heaps of love to all, and Cheer O! 1918 S. Sassoon Counter-Attack 42 Cheero! I wish they'd killed you in a decent show. 1918 Punch 3 Apr. 222/3 Second Pilot. Well, cheerio, old thing—weather looks dud. 1919 Punch 14 May 374 ‘Cheerio, Parsons, old cracker,’ he shouted wildly. 1921 H. G. Jenkins Mrs. Bindle ii. 51 Never seen 'er so cheerio in all my puff. 1922 Mrs. A. Sidgwick Victorian ix, He hates scent too, so put on plenty to-night because..I want him to get used to it. Cheerio! 1924 Galsworthy White Monkey i. xi, Cheerio, my dear, don't quarrel with bread and butter. 1944 [see cheerie-bye int.]. 1948 Wodehouse Spring Fever x. 99 You could not have found a more cheerio butler. |
b. A salutation before drinking; = ‘cheers’ (see cheer n.1 8 b).
| 1919 Wodehouse Damsel in Distress xxi. 242 He refilled the glasses..and raised his own to his lips. ‘Cheero! Here's to us all!’ 1921 ― Jill the Reckless viii. 120 Much as the wounded soldier would have felt if Sir Philip Sidney, instead of offering him the cup of water, had placed it to his own lips and drained it with a careless ‘Cheerio!’. 1930 Auden Poems 12 C. Thanks. Prosit. K. Cheerio. |