Bully for you

It's funny how one word can trigger a whole train of thought :~) I was discussing someone being a bully with a friend (you know who you are !) and the origin of the word is weird:

ORIGIN mid 16th cent.: probably from Middle Dutch boele ‘lover.’ The original usage was as a term of endearment applied to either sex; later becoming a familiar form of address to a male friend. The current sense dates from the late 17th century. 

 

: : NOUN
: : 1. A person who is habitually cruel or overbearing,
        especially to smaller or weaker people
: : 2. A hired ruffian; a thug
: : 3. A pimp
: : 4. Archaic A fine person
: : 5. Archaic A sweetheart

In the United Kingdom, the term corned beef refers to the tinned (canned) variety made from finely minced corned beef in a small amount of gelatin (bully beef; from the French bouilli "boiled"), and is sold in distinctive oblong-shaped cans, just as in the U.S. and Canada.It is mainly imported from Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay.
Bully beef and biscuits were the main field rations of the British Army from the Boer War to World War 2

'Bully for you' is a term indicating praise, sometimes with a hint of sarcasm but often not. At first sight it seems an odd use of "bully" until one realises that the word had a 16th century meaning of fine fellow, sweetheart which probably came from the middle Dutch Boele = Lover

But don't foget.......