Hello
Hello. This is as good a way as any to welcome
you to these pages.
The word "hello" is probably used more often
than any other one in the English language.
Everybody in the United States----and
elsewhere----uses the word, again and again,
every day of the week.
The first thing you hear when you pick up the
phone is "hello" unless the caller is an
Englishman, who might say, "Are you there?"
Where did the word come from? There are all
sorts of beliefs. Some say it came from the
French, "ho" and "la"----"Ho, there!" This
greeting may have arrived in England during the
Norman Conquest in the year 1066.
"Ho, there" slowly became something that sounded
like "hallow"(accent last syllable), often
heard in the 1300's, during the days of the
English poet, Geoffrey Chaucer.
Two hundred years later, in Shakespeare's time,
"hallow" had become "halloo." And later,
sounds like "halloa," "halloo" and "hollo" were
often used by sailors and huntsmen. "Halloo," is
still used today by fox hunters.
As time passed, "halloo" and "halloa" changed
into "hullo." And during the 1800's this was
how people greeted each other in America.
The American inventor, Thomas Alva Edison, is
believed to be the first person to use "hello"
in the late 1800's, soon after the invention
of the telephone.
At first, people had greeted each other on the
telephone with, "Are you there?" They were not
sure the new instrument could really carry voices.
Tom Edison, however, was a man of few words. He
wasted no time. The first time he picked
up the phone he did not ask if anyone was there.
He was sure someone was, and simply said,"Hello."
From that time on----only about 100 years
ago----the "hullo," became "hello," as it is heard
today.
Strangely enough, when the first telephone
system was put in New Haven, Connecticut, in
1878, people did not say "hello" or "hullo" or
even "halloo." They answered the phone the way
sailors hail a ship, "Ahoy, ahoy there!" Thank
God, that telephone greeting did not last long.
Of course, there are other ways Americans greet
one another. Not long ago, people often said,
"How are you?" when they first met someone. This
later became "hiyah." Then, someone thought
that two syllables were too much and "hiyah"
became "hi." Laziness is a strong force in changing
language.
Answering a telephone call in America still
presents problems, however. Telephone
companies think that Thomas Edison's short
"hello," is too long. Why waste time? the phone
companies say. Simply pick up the phone, give
your name, and start talking.