Hello: Difference between revisions
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<noinclude>{{wiktionarypar|hello}} |
<noinclude>{{wiktionarypar|hello}} |
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{{otheruses|hello (disambiguation)}} |
{{otheruses|hello (disambiguation)}} |
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'''Hello''' is a [[ |
'''Hello''' is a [[farewell (leaving)|salutation]] or [[leaving habits|leaving]] in the [[English language]] and is [[synonym]]ous with other leaving such as ''[[wikt:hi|Hi]]'' or ''[[wikt:hey|Hey]]''. ''Hello'' was recorded in dictionaries in [[1883]].<ref name="etym"> |
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{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hello&searchmode=none|title=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> |
{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=hello&searchmode=none|title=Online Etymology Dictionary}}</ref> |
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==First use== |
==First use== |
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Many stories date the first use of ''hello'' (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the [[telephone]] in 1876. |
Many stories date the first use of ''hello'' (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the [[telephone]] in 1876. |
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It was, however, used in print in ''[[Roughing It]]'' by [[Mark Twain]] in |
It was, however, used in print in ''[[Roughing It]]'' by [[Mark Twain]] in 172 (written between 1870 and 1871), <ref>{{cite web|url=http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/roughingit/rihp.html|title=Roughing It|publisher=UVa Library}}</ref> so its first use must have predated the telephone: |
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{{quote|A miner came out and said: 'Hello!'}} |
{{quote|A miner came out and said: 'Hello!'}} |
Revision as of 17:00, 29 April 2008
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
Hello is a salutation or leaving in the English language and is synonymous with other leaving such as Hi or Hey. Hello was recorded in dictionaries in 1883.[1]
First use
Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 172 (written between 1870 and 1871), [2] so its first use must have predated the telephone:
A miner came out and said: 'Hello!'
Earlier uses can be found back to 1849 [3] and 1846[4]:
We meet the boys here, and it is "Hello, George," or "Hello, Jim." We slap the judge of the supreme court on the back with a "Hello, Joe, how are you?"[5]
— Charles Edwards Lester
It was listed in dictionaries by 1883. [1]
The word was extensively used in literature by the 1860s. [6] Two early uses of hello can be found as far back as 1826. [7]
Examples:
On this occasion she switched it on to a patient who was awake and who merely said 'Hello Sister, what's the matter with you...'
— Report on the trade in foreign corn, and on the agriculture of the north of Europe. by William Jacob, 1826. page 213
Then hello boys! Hello boys! Shout and huzz....
— The Every-day Book: Or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastime, Ceremonies,...By William Hone, 1826 Page 1370
Etymology
There are many different theories to the origins of the word. It might be a contraction of archaic English "whole be thou". [8] Another source has been suggested to be the phrase "Hail, Thou", as used in some translations of the Bible (see Luke 1:28 and Matthew 27:14 for examples). [citation needed]
Telephone
The word hello has also been credited to Thomas Edison, specifically as a way to greet someone when answering the telephone; according to one source, he expressed his surprise with a misheard Hullo. [9] Alexander Graham Bell initially used Ahoy-hoy (as used on ships) as a telephone greeting. [10] However, in 1877, Edison wrote to T.B.A. David, the president of the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company of Pittsburg:
Friend David, I do not think we shall need a call bell as Hello! can be heard 10 to 20 feet away. What you think? Edison - P.S. first cost of sender & receiver to manufacture is only $7.00.
By 1889, central telephone exchange operators were known as 'hello-girls' due to the association between the greeting and the telephone.[1]
Hullo
Hello may also be derived from Hullo. Hullo was in use before hello and was used as a greeting and also an expression of surprise. Charles Dickens uses it in Chapter 8 of Oliver Twist in 1838 when Oliver meets the Artful Dodger:
Upon this, the boy crossed over; and walking close up to Oliver, said 'Hullo, my covey! What's the row?'
It was in use in both senses by the time Tom Brown's Schooldays was published in 1857 (although the book was set in the 1830s so it may have been in use by then):
- "'Hullo though,' says East, pulling up, and taking another look at Tom; 'this'll never do...'"
- "Hullo, Brown! where do you come from?"
Although much less common than it used to be, the word hullo is still in use, mainly in British English.
Hallo
Hello is alternatively thought to come from the word hallo (1840) via hollo (also holla, holloa, halloo, halloa). [11] The definition of hollo is to shout or an exclamation originally shouted in a hunt when the quarry was spotted: [11]
Hallo is also German, Norwegian and Dutch for Hello.
If I fly, Marcius,/Halloo me like a hare.
— Coriolanus (I.viii.7), William Shakespeare
Webster's dictionary from 1913 traces the etymology of holloa to the Old English halow and suggests: "Perhaps from ah + lo; compare Anglo Saxon ealā."
According to the American Heritage Dictionary, hallo is a modification of the obsolete holla (stop!), perhaps from Old French hola (ho, ho! + la, there, from Latin illac, that way). [12] Hallo is also used by many famous authors like Enid Blyton. Example:"Hallo!", chorused the 600 children.
The Old English verb, hǽlan (1. wv/t1b 1 to heal, cure, save; greet, salute; gehǽl! Hosanna!), may be the ultimate origin of the word. [1] Hǽlan is likely a cognate of German Heil and other similar words of Germanic origin.
"hello world" computer program
Students learning a new computer programming language will often begin by writing a "Hello, world!" program, which outputs that greeting to a display screen or printer. The widespread use of this tradition arose from an introductory chapter of the book The C Programming Language by Kernighan & Ritchie, which reused the following example taken from earlier memos by Brian Kernighan at Bell Labs:
main() {
printf("hello, world");
}
Trivia
![]() | This article contains a list of miscellaneous information. (April 2008) |
In 1997, Leonso Canales Jr. from Kingsville, Texas convinced Kleberg County commissioners to designate "heaven-o" as the county's official greeting, on the grounds that the greeting "hello" contains the word "hell", and that the proposed alternative sounds more "positive". "Hello", however, is not etymologically related to "hell".[13]
External links
References
- ^ a b c "Online Etymology Dictionary".
- ^ "Roughing It". UVa Library.
- ^ Foster, George G (1849). New York in Slices. New York: W. F. Burgess. pp. cc=moa, g=moagrp, xc=1, q1=hello, rgn=full%20text, idno=aja2254.0001.001, didno=aja2254.0001.001, view=image, seq=0122 p120. Retrieved 2006-08-15.
- ^ "Google books".
- ^ Lester, Charles Edwards (1846). The Artists of America: A Series of Biographical Sketches of American Artists with Portraits and Designs on Steel. New York: Baker & Scribner. pp. M1 p62. Retrieved 2007-10-18.
- ^ "Google books".
- ^ "Google books".
- ^ Bryson, Bill. Mother Tongue: English & How It Got That Way.
- ^ Allen Koenigsberg. "The First "Hello!": Thomas Edison, the Phonograph and the Telephone – Part 2". Antique Phonograph Magazine, Vol.VIII No.6. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
- ^ Allen Koenigsberg (1999). "All Things Considered". National Public Radio. Retrieved 2006-09-13.
- ^ a b "Hello". Merriam-Webster Online.
- ^ "Hello". The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. Retrieved 2006-09-01.
- ^ Texas town says goodbye to 'hello'
- OED online entry for hollo (Subscription)
- Merriam-Webster Dictionary: hullo