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This is Kid's Box Quiz.

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It sounds like the audio is saying (link with a time stamp corresponds the following)

Let's hear it for these two clever kids in today's big final:

per this post,

Hear means that sounds come into your ears whether you want it or not, while listen means that you consciously pay attention to what you hear, that is you want to hear something: ... – I'm listening, but I can't hear anything. – We heard a terrible noise when the cars crashed in front of our house.

Question

In the case of Kid's Box Quiz, why does the announcer use "hear" rather than "listen", does that mean the audience does not need to pay much attention?

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    In the cited context, when the presenter says Let's = Let us [hear it], he effectively means Let ME [hear loud cheers from YOU the audience]. Obviously the audience themselves will also hear their own cheering, so it's not unreasonable to use us / we in this context, and Let's is an idiomatically well-established usage anyway. But you will also hear presenters saying things like Let me hear you [put your hands together] for [our guest]. But if everyone just listens, no-one will hear anything anyway.
    – FumbleFingers
    Feb 10, 2020 at 14:13
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    @FumbleFingersReinstateMonica Thank you so much. Would you please move your comments to answer? I'll accept it.
    – peterpanai
    Feb 10, 2020 at 14:21
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    'It' in this context is the sound of the audience clapping.
    – Strawberry
    Feb 11, 2020 at 11:56
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    As an aside, while the difference between "listen" and "hear" is indeed the manner in which someone perceives the noise ("listening at a door" vs "hearing a sudden shout", for example) neither implies a lack of attention. That would be better communicated by the surrounding context. Think of "I hear you loud and clear" or "The jury heard the details with rapt attention", for example.
    – Lunakshc
    Feb 11, 2020 at 15:30

2 Answers 2

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"Let's hear it for..." is an idiomatic way of inviting the audience at a stage show or live television show recording to applaud for somebody. This is particularly common in television when cues for the audience are important for the recording process.

The expression can also be used just to express appreciation for somebody or something - this latter usage has already been addressed in this question and answer.

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    Basically, the "it" in "let's hear it for..." is "applause".
    – nick012000
    Feb 11, 2020 at 11:42
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    Basically the same as "Let's give a big round of applause for ..." which is shortened to "hear it" since the audience knows it is expected of them to to applaud in a (game)show.
    – Viktor Mellgren
    Feb 11, 2020 at 12:57
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    “Let’s hear it for...” is actually an invitation for the audience to express aurally (so it can be heard) how they feel about something. That’s not necessarily applause because it’s not necessarily a presumed positive feeling. Though less common, it can also be used to invite negative reactions such as boos for something widely disliked. I.e., “Let’s hear it for the mayors new tax plan!”
    – RBarryYoung
    Feb 11, 2020 at 18:45
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    @RBarryYoung Might be interesting to note that “let's”, while currently pretty idiomatic, is originally a contraction of “let us”. In order to let us hear it, you must make the noise we are to hear.
    – wizzwizz4
    Feb 11, 2020 at 20:39
  • I would say it was short for "let us hear your appreciation of"
    – WendyG
    Feb 13, 2020 at 15:45
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“Let's hear it for [someone]” means “please show your appreciation for [someone]”. Showing appreciation can mean things like clapping, yelling positive words like “Yeah! Go team!”.

It does not at all mean “listen to [someone]”. The people who should make sound are not the [someone] in question. The goal of the sound is mainly to be heard: the louder the sound is, the more appreciation it shows. Even if it involves yelling words, the exact meaning of the words doesn't matter much, so listening is not really important.

In this context of a quiz show with an audience, the host says “let's hear it for [the contestants]”, and this means that the audience should applaud the contestants.

Sometimes this expression can also be used in contexts where the appreciation is shown in a different way. But originally, and most commonly, it's about producing noise.

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