We use hello several times a day to greet people or attract attention. But as prevalent as the word is, it is relatively new.
Where does听hello come from?
While use of the term hello dates back earlier, it isn’t recorded with this exact spelling until the 1800s. 贬别濒濒辞听is considered a variant on a number of other similar words鈥攍ike hallo, holla, and hollo鈥攖hat听were used听to hail and shout to gain attention听and recorded prior to the 1800s.听
For example, the word听hallo听demanded that the listener come to a stop or cease what he or she was doing. It听was also used to spur on hunting dogs.听Hallo听comes from the Middle French hol谩听(from听ho! 鈥渁hoy鈥� and听la 鈥渢here鈥�), so you could say that when you say hello, you’re actually saying “Ahoy there!”
Amazingly, there are countless variations of these words, including: halloo, halloa, halow,听hillo, holler, hollo, holloa, hollow, and听hullo. Some of these may sound more familiar than others.听
贬别濒濒辞听as used as an everyday greeting is recorded since at least the 1850s. Because it’s such a common word, we might have expected that greeting to be recorded earlier. This spelling is considered an Americanism, while hullo is a variant that is more commonly seen in Great Britain.听
A more modern use of the word hello听calls into question the common sense or comprehension of the person being addressed. For example, 鈥淵ou鈥檙e actually going to eat that rotten peach?! Hello!鈥�
Why do we answer the phone with hello?
When the telephone was invented, Alexander Graham Bell wanted people to use the word ahoy听as a greeting. Supposedly his rival Thomas Edison suggested hello, while Bell stubbornly clung to ahoy, and well鈥攜ou know which one stuck around. (Interesting trivia: hello-girls was the name for the central telephone exchange operators.)
What about other greetings?
Hi is equivalent to hello,听but it is considered a little bit more informal in tone. In fact, it was recorded a lot earlier than hello. Hi developed from the Middle English听hy, similar to听hey and ha. Essentially, these are all terms used to call attention鈥攖hey’re short and easy to say鈥攖hat evolved into the greetings we use today.
WATCH: Why Are There So Many Ways To Say "Hi"?
As for the upbeat greeting howdy, it听was first recorded as a contraction of 鈥渉ow do you do鈥� in 1632. An earlier version comes from 鈥渉ow do ye.鈥�
So when you greet someone, you now know that you can choose from the modern-day equivalent of “Ahoy, there!” or “How do ye!” Of course, you could dip into your arsenal of words from the 1900s and use wassup, which is short for (what else?) “What’s up?”
Every hello brings with it an inevitable goodbye. Find out why we say goodbye in the first place and the numerous other ways you can bid farewell.
