Which brings up an excellent question; What came first: the British slang or the breakfast cereal?
According to Merriam-Webster, the term “cheerio” originated in 1910. General Mills, the company behind Cheerios, adopted the name for their breakfast cereal which, at the time, was known as CheeriOats. This was apparently due to a dispute with competing cereal maker Quaker Oats, but that’s beside the point. Looks like the Brits thought of it first.
