cheers

A sputtering noise made by pressing the tongue and lips together, used to express either real or faux contempt, mockery, or displeasure; a raspberry. Primarily heard in US. The fans collectively gave the opposing team a Bronx cheer when their relief pitcher walked onto the field.

Good for, hurrah for, congratulations to, as in Three cheers for our mayor! Hip, hip, hooray! Why one should shout one's encouragement or approbation three times rather than two or four is unclear. A shouted cheer presumably originated as a nautical practice, if we are to believe Daniel Defoe in Captain Singleton (1720): "We gave them a cheer, as the seamen call it." Three cheers was first recorded in 1751. The term is also used sarcastically, when one is not really offering congratulations, as in So you finally passed; well, three cheers for you.

A raucous expression of displeasure. The sarcastic reference is to how spectators at sporting events in New York City's borough of the Bronx—at Yankee Stadium, for a notable example—let players on visiting teams, and umpires too, know what was on their mind. The classic “Bronx cheer” sound was produced by compressing the lips and blowing, which replicated the sound of passing wind. That noise was earlier called a raspberry (or raspberry tart, the British rhyming slang for “fart”), from which the word “razz” came.