An exclamation used to express encouragement, approval, or praise, like saying 'way to go!' or 'that's the spirit!'
American slang origin, possibly derived from Italian 'attaboy' (a contraction of 'that's the boy'), used informally since the early 1900s as encouragement.
The phrase 'attaboy' became 'atta' and then 'atta girl,' showing how English absorbs immigrant language patterns—Italian-American speakers created a cheer that became part of mainstream American English!
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