hear hear or here here; tow the line or toe the line?

[kazza12345]

which is correct in the above 2 examples? i have always thought it's hear hear - as in "hear what this person is saying; i agree with it"
and i always thought it was toe the line
however i just read a book with both of these saying in the same page that were the other way round (here here and tow the line)

[lafrancaise]

You're right, the book's wrong. (Oxford dictionary) maybe it's an american book they sometimes spell things differently....

[jno]

hear hear means 'hear him', in effect. Toe the line means you walk along with your toes on the line, not deviating. (Towing a line doesn't mean anything in particular.)

[Quizmonster]

Click here for the background to 'toe the line'. The confusion exists simply because a rope for pulling things is called a 'tow-line'.

[frenchfriar]

"hear, hear" means basically I agree.
"here, here" has the same meaning as "here, now, stop that." (the "here" has the same meaning in both phrases.)
"toe the line" means to queue up to some mark or other, rather than single file, everyone is turned to face the "line", whatever it is.
"tow the line" means to haul a cable.

confusion comes in, because they sound alike.