jolly good; jolly good show; jolly good fellow. Jolly good in British English means “very good, extremely good,” and the ex- pression jolly good show is said to someone who has performed very well. Less dated than these expressions is jolly good fellow, which is frequently used on both sides of the ocean in the well- known song sung after a toast to a very popular person: For he’s a jolly good fellow That nobody can deny. The British version substitutes “And say so all of us” for “That nobody can deny.” |