Defined

Two things you can count on hearing around here, as summer prepares to hibernate and allow schools to open: one, of course, is the plaintive cry of Ocean City merchants, hoteliers, and maître d's that they barely made two nickels to rub together this summer, that they face economic devastation when all the coins are toted up this year, and may have to cut back on servants at their winter homes in France's tony Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur.

The winter home of the guy who sold you a t-shirt for $35.

And the other expression is "last hurrah," as in "Hurricane Erin might blow away some people's plans for one Last Hurrah down at the beach this weekend..."

We say that "Last Hurrah" all the time, referring to a final crack at something, so, waiting for the ballgame the other night, I looked it up. A last hurrah, defined as "any final attempt, competition, performance, success, or the like" is not all that old an expression. 

It's the title of a 1956 novel by U.S. author Edwin O'Connor (1918-1968), about a Boston politician running for office for the last time.

So now I know. And this will not be my last hurrah at looking stuff up!