Swan song vs last hurrah
Hi there,
(1) Example: "It was his last hurrah/swan song".
Are there yet other (idiomatic) ways to convey the same idea?
(2) Not sure if the two word combinations (last hurrah - swan song) are 100% interchangeable...
Perhaps you can give me an example or two where last hurrah works just fine but swan song does not? ... And vice versa... are there contexts where swan song looks perfect whereas last hurrah sounds "odd" to native speakers?
Hope my questions make sense to you.
Top answer
"Last hurrah" comes from the title of a 1956 American novel, The Last Hurrah , and the movie made from it two years later. I had no idea it was so recent a coinage. The OED gives "swansong" ( sic ) as part of its definition, but I have always taken it to mean more a final burst of glory in a long career than a mere final act.
- "Last hurrah" comes from the title of a 1956 American novel, The Last Hurrah , and the movie made from it two years later.
- I had no idea it was so recent a coinage.
- The OED gives "swansong" ( sic ) as part of its definition, but I have always taken it to mean more a final burst of glory in a long career than a mere final act.
- "Swan song" invokes the dying swan and is thus more poignant.
- It is more a farewell performance or work or act to my mind, deliberately so, the term emphasizing the subsequent literal or professional death of the person delivering it.
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"Last hurrah" comes from the title of a 1956 American novel, The Last Hurrah, and the movie made from it two years later. I had no idea it was so recent a coinage. The OED gives "swansong" (sic) as part of its definition, but I have always taken it to mean more a final burst of glory in a long career than a mere final act.
"Swan song" invokes the dying swan and is th
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