# 'Hello' as a telephone greeting **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 26, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218 "2001-08-26T19:56:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/1 "2001-08-26T19:56:04Z")
Why, out of all the salutations in the English language, is “hello” the common way to answer the phone? When did it come into vogue? Why is it so wide-spread? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/2 "2001-08-26T20:02:20Z")
The Word Detective on “hello” [http://www.word-detective.com/back-l2.html#hello](http://www.word-detective.com/back-l2.html#hello) BTW, a town in TX instructed all town employees to start answering the telephone “Heaven-o” instead of “hell-o.” Don’t know if that’s still going on. ---
**Author:** ![lno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@lno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lno)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/3 "2001-08-26T20:06:09Z")
I know I saw this in one of Cecil’s books, but I can’t find the article in the archives. So, off to google. [Who invented Hello?](http://www.pitara.com/discover/5wh/online.asp?story=184) And my favorite, [the folks who want to use ‘heaveno’](http://www.heaveno.com/greeting.htm) because in ‘hello’ “The “O” is not enough to hide the most negative word (Hell) printed in every dictionary!”. On the plus side, they’ve got a nice little evolution of the word from ‘hallow’ all the way to ‘heaveno’. ---
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/4 "2001-08-26T21:14:56Z")
My high school spanish teacher told us that, in Spain, they answer the phone, “Dime”, which means “Tell me”. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/5 "2001-08-26T21:27:50Z")
Ahoy-hoy? ---
**Author:** ![ThisYearsGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/73ab20/32.png) [@ThisYearsGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisYearsGirl)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/6 "2001-08-26T21:30:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\*My high school spanish teacher told us that, in Spain, they answer the phone, “Dime”, which means “Tell me”. \*\* I know in some Spanish speaking countries, they answer with “Alo,” which is like Hello, but with a Spanish accent. ---
**Author:** ![Lady\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f1d935/32.png) [@Lady\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lady_Ice)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/7 "2001-08-26T21:32:58Z")
I prefer the way my late grandfather used to answer the phone. “Ernie’s Mortuary, you stab 'em, we slab 'em.” My grandfather used to get a lot of hangups for some reason:D Damn, I miss that man. DRG ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/8 "2001-08-26T21:48:12Z")
The [Who invented Hello?](http://www.pitara.com/discover/5wh/online.asp?story=184) site borrowed entire phrases(embarassingly so) from the Word Detective site of Evan Morris. I sent Evan an e-mail. Hate it when people can’t at least rewrite things in their own words. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2001, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/9 "2001-08-26T22:47:42Z")
Ahoy hoy. In case there are Simpons fans here. Monty Burns says this when he answers the phone. Because before the telephone hello wasn’t in common usage. When it was invented they wanted to use Ahoy-hoy as the way to answer it. So it is a jab at how old Mr. Burns is. ---
**Author:** ![fandango](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5ac83/32.png) [@fandango](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fandango)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/10 "2001-08-27T01:09:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LNO \* > \*\*I know I saw this in one of Cecil’s books, but I can’t find the article in the archives. So, off to google. > > [Who invented Hello?](http://www.pitara.com/discover/5wh/online.asp?story=184) > And my favorite, [the folks who want to use ‘heaveno’](http://www.heaveno.com/greeting.htm) because in ‘hello’ “The “O” is not enough to hide the most negative word (Hell) printed in every dictionary!”. On the plus side, they’ve got a nice little evolution of the word from ‘hallow’ all the way to ‘heaveno’. \*\* Both sites said that T.A. Edison was the one to first say “Hello” on the phone, however I always heard it was Elisiah Grey (or Elijah Gray…or something similar) who created a telephone device but lost on the patent to Bell by mere hours. Bell wanted to use “ahoy-hoy” as the greeting, but Grey preferred “Hello” ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/11 "2001-08-27T01:21:39Z")
**Hail Ants wrote:** > [@](#): > > My high school spanish teacher told us that, in Spain, they answer the phone, “Dime”, which means “Tell me”. That’s true. They also say “digame”, which means the same thing, but is formal and more common among elder people, according to my Spanish professor. Some even more informal people even answer by saying “si”. [For those who don’t speak Spanish, “dime” is not pronounced like the American ten-cent coin, but is said more along the lines of “dee-may”] ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/12 "2001-08-27T02:13:15Z")
_Moshi moshi_ Where’d that Japanese phone-answering phrase come from? ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/13 "2001-08-27T03:13:47Z")
My best friend’s father always answers the phone with “shalom,” which is odd only becuase I’m expecting to hear “hello.” ---
**Author:** ![jaimest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/48db29/32.png) [@jaimest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaimest)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/14 "2001-08-27T03:26:10Z")
What I can’t figure out is why people in Mexico answer with “bueno”(good). ---
**Author:** ![Qwertyasdfg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/ecc23a/32.png) [@Qwertyasdfg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qwertyasdfg)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/15 "2001-08-27T03:50:53Z")
I believe that the spanish also answer the phone with “pronto” which means “soon.” Or am I confused? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/16 "2001-08-27T03:51:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andygirl \* > \*\*My best friend’s father always answers the phone with “shalom,” which is odd only becuase I’m expecting to hear “hello.” \*\* That’s even odder when you realize that most _Israelis_ answer the phone with “Hallo”. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/17 "2001-08-27T03:53:54Z")
In French, they use the word “allô”, which is _only_ used in this context (and similar ones like loudspeakers, two-way radios, and whatnot…), as well as in reproaching a person who’s Lost In Space, like we would say “Hell_o-oooooo!_” Their more common greeting is, needless to say, “Bonjour/soir” or “Salut”. In Esperanto, similarly, “Ha lo” is used to answer the phone, but “Saluton” is the general greeting. ---
**Author:** ![Joe\_Cool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ecb155/32.png) [@Joe\_Cool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joe_Cool)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/18 "2001-08-27T04:09:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jaimest \* > \*\*What I can’t figure out is why people in Mexico answer with “bueno”(good). \*\* bueno is also commonly used to mean “OK”, “yes”, or “go ahead”. I understand it for phone answering to be closer to that usage than to “good”. ---
**Author:** ![kniz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c37758/32.png) [@kniz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kniz)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/19 "2001-08-27T04:24:22Z")
The question was why “hello” not how do the Spanish answer the phone. I wonder if the French perhaps say “Oui”, but see there you’ve got me doing it! **HELLO** answer the damn question! ---
**Author:** ![Major\_Feelgud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3be4f8/32.png) [@Major\_Feelgud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Major_Feelgud)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/20 "2001-08-27T05:02:13Z")
I know one guy in Italy, he also answers the phone “Pronto”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218.md?page=2)