# '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:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ccd318/32.png) [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/21 "2001-08-27T05:13:09Z")
I always answer the phone pronto, if I don’t the answering machine picks up. ---
**Author:** ![Man\_from\_Mars](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Man\_from\_Mars](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Man_from_Mars)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/22 "2001-08-27T05:13:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Qwertyasdfg \* > \*\*I believe that the spanish also answer the phone with “pronto” which means “soon.” > > Or am I confused? \*\* I can’t say for sure that certain Spanish speaking countries don’t use “pronto” to answer their phones, but I do know that this word is used by Italians. In the Italian language it means “ready.” And can anything be more retarded than those “heaven-o” people? Afraid of a word because it has another word within it? Perhaps we should start talking about turtle sheavens and refer to Greeks as Sheavenenes. Geez!! I’m a firm believer that only people who have at least three working brain cells should be involved in the shaping of language and the evolution of it and its words. If I was told to answer the phone with heaven-o, I’d tell them to go to heaven. The o is not enough to hide the word hell! :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Tripler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripler/32/21807_2.png) [@Tripler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tripler)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/23 "2001-08-27T05:14:18Z")
I’ve been somewhat ‘groomed’. I like to answer my phone and let you know _who_ you’ve called, _what extension_ you’ve got me on, and a positive greeting to indicate that you can begin speaking your intent: **"Oswald LMT, go ahead!"** Tripler And if you don’t believe me, call me on my cellphone. ---
**Author:** ![Tedster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/4491bb/32.png) [@Tedster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tedster)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/24 "2001-08-27T05:27:30Z")
When phones first became somewhat widespread, at least among the well-to-do; there was a bit of controversy over their presence in a home and the proper etiquette in their use. Many felt the intrusion extremely gauche, since there was no way of identifying just who, or whom, might be calling. The nerve! The phone will ring, and you just have to pick it up and answer it to find out who’s on the other end. This was seen analagous to door to door solicitors. Would you invite a total stranger into your house? Of course not. But with a telephone, there’s no choice. Till caller ID. I guess today’s wrath is especially reserved to Telemarketers. With caller ID, any “Unavailable” call that gets through, if I decide to answer, is usually something very similar to “What do _you_ want?” The only thing worse is when someone calls me and asks “Who is this?” I mean, come on. Doesn’t anyone have any fricking manners anymore? ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/25 "2001-08-27T05:34:38Z")
> [@](#): > > The only thing worse is when someone calls me and asks “Who is this?” I mean, come on. Doesn’t anyone have any fricking manners anymore? God, I hate that! I usually respond with ‘Who are you?’ If they give me any flack, I’ll remind them that they called me, I didn’t call them. I don’t know why, but I answer my cel phone with my first name. I have always answered the home phone with the usual ‘hello’. ---
**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/26 "2001-08-27T06:48:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*_Moshi moshi_ > > Where’d that Japanese phone-answering phrase come from? \*\* A quick search at [http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/) (in Japanese) reveals that moshi-moshi, is in fact the doubled form of moshi (duh). The Japanese are quite fond of such repeated words. Moshi-moshi is the standard phone greating but can also be used to hail people. Moshi can only be used for that purpose. (Note: I _never_ hear anyone use it in that context.) “Moshi” is itself a vernacular variation of “moushi” which comes from the verb mousu, humble form of “to say.” Thus when people say “moshi-moshi” they are saying something like “I say, I say!” Though I doubt anyone thinks of it that way. ---
**Author:** ![Commander\_Fortune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Commander\_Fortune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Commander_Fortune)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/27 "2001-08-27T07:27:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Padeye \* > \*\*Ahoy-hoy? \*\* This is how I taught my 9 y/o to answer the phone when she was much smaller. I smile whenever she still does. ---
**Author:** ![rob\_s](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@rob\_s](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rob_s)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/28 "2001-08-27T12:41:20Z")
It’s quite common here in the UK for people to answer by giving their phone number. My parents, for example, always answer “722539” (nothing else, not even a “hello” as well) and you hear this all over the place. It’s always struck me as odd 'cos surely the person on the other end is aware of the number, as they have only just dialled it! Still seems popular though… And anyone who answers their phone with “Whassup!” should be given a slap 😃 rob s. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/29 "2001-08-27T13:10:35Z")
> [@](#): > > _ **Matt\_MCL** said:_ > In Esperanto, similarly, “Ha lo” is used to answer the phone, but “Saluton” is the general greeting. I answer my phone with ‘Saluton’, if I recognise the caller-ID as that of an Esperanto-speaking person. My answering-machine message is also in Esperanto. Scares off telemarketers better that way… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/30 "2001-08-27T13:10:49Z")
My grandparents on both sides answer the phone with their last names…I’ve always wondered if that was a hold-out from the old party-line system. My father says “Speak.” People who bark the first time they call him get extra points in his eyes 😉 ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/31 "2001-08-27T15:16:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*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. \*\* Cecil’s review of “hello” appears on page 37 of _More of the Straight Dope_. But it’s not part of a column – it’s one of 60 quiz questions that have never been posted online. Think of these as “bonus tracks”, available to only those of Unca Cecil’s loyal followers who have done that extra – but critically important – step in fighting ignorance by buying all of the master’s books. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/32 "2001-08-27T15:19:52Z")
More early telephone trivia: the first switchboard operators were men, but they proved inadequate, as their fingers were too big to work the intricate switchboards; and they tended to curse at callers when stressed out. So they were soon replaced by what were known as “hello girls.” This was one of the better non-factory jobs available to women 100 years ago or so, when most “secretaries” were still men. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/33 "2001-08-27T15:49:55Z")
Long ago (sorry no cite) I read a book on the history of the phone system, and it pointed out that the transmission was of very poor quality in the early days, and you could barely hear the other person. Consequently it was natural that people would use a word like “Ahoy”, since it implies that the speaker is calling out to someone who is far away. I think that must be how “Hello” came to be used as well. In _More Of The Straight Dope_, Cecil says that “Hello” had not been widely used before it came to replace “Ahoy” on the telephone, but I suspect it had been used regularly before then, not as a casual greeting, but as an attention-getter, much like Ahoy. This is illustrated by expressions such as “Hello up there!” ---
**Author:** ![xicanorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/a88e57/32.png) [@xicanorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xicanorex)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/34 "2001-08-27T16:26:04Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by ThisYearsGirl \* \*\* > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Hail Ants \* > \*\*I know in some Spanish speaking countries, they answer with “Alo,” which is like Hello, but with a Spanish accent. \*\* In Mexico, you use “Alo” only if you want to sound Spanish (from Spain), cosmopolitan, and upper middle class near your friends. Most Mexicans will use “Hola”, “Bueno”, or “Digame.” The most commonly used is “hola”. XicanoreX ---
**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, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/35 "2001-08-27T16:31:25Z")
The following is from the online subscriber version of the complete Oxford English Dictionary (i can’t give a link, as you have to enter through the site and ISP of a subscribing university or individual). > [@](#): > > **Hello** , _int._ and_n._: > > b. Used as an answer to a telephone call. > > 1892 KIPLING Lett. of Travel (1920) 94 A…millionaire…clawing wildly at the telephone… ‘Hello!.. Yes. Who’s there?’ 1922 S. LEWIS Babbitt iv. 41 On the telephone they said only: ‘…Oh, Hello, 343?’ 1973 J. WAINWRIGHT Pride of Pigs 169 She…picked up the receiver, waited for the S.T.D. pips to stop, said ‘Hello?’ and…recognised her brother’s voice. The earliest use given in this context is, as you can see, 1892. The earliest use given for “hello” in any context is 1883. However, the OED also list “hello” as a variant of “hallo”, and refers the reader to the latter entry, which says: > [@](#): > > **hallo, halloa** , _int._ and _n._: > > [A later form of HOLLO (hollow, holloa), q.v. Cf. Ger. hallo, halloh, also OHG. halâ, holâ, emphatic imper. of halôn, holôn to fetch, used esp. in hailing a ferryman. Also written hullo(a, hillo(a, hello, from obscurity of the first syllable.] > > A shout or exclamation to call attention, or expressing some degree of surprise (e.g. on meeting some one unexpectedly). Cf. HALLOO. Freq. used as a greeting, etc., on a telephone. Also, repeated, as a locution indicating surprise. Cf. HELLO int. b, HULLO int. > > ``` > A. as int. > > ``` > > 1840 DICKENS Barn. Rudge x, ‘Halloa there! Hugh!’ roared John. 1864 H. SPENCER Illustr. Univ. Progr. 217 Any phrase with which one may be heard to accost the otheras ‘Hallo, are you here?’ 1942 A. CHRISTIE Body in Library ii. 24 Hallo, 'allo, 'allo, what’s this? 1972 Police Rev. 10 Nov. 1473/2 You could have a walking, talking plastic Policeman…saying ‘Allo, allo, allo.’ > > ``` > B. as n. > > ``` > > a1898 Mod. I gave a loud halloa. Loud halloas were now heard in all directions. 1932 N. & Q. 6 Aug. 105/2 The telephonic ‘hallo’. ---
**Author:** ![anenquiringmind](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/54ee81/32.png) [@anenquiringmind](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anenquiringmind)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/36 "2001-08-28T02:28:36Z")
I called a friend one day many years ago from a phone booth expecting to hear the usual “Hello!” when he answered the phone. This time when he answered he said, “Telephone!” and I nearly died from laughing so hard, I mean to tell you I was on the floor of that phone booth, crying and dying, I couldnt even answer him back. I dont know why it hit me like that, but it was truly one of the great laughing fits of all time. To this day I still answer the phone by saying, “Telephone!” I love it!!! ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/37 "2001-08-28T03:04:25Z")
To emphasize what **EVE** said, I submit from Mark Twain, "The humblest hello-girl along ten thousand miles of wire could teach gentleness, patience, modesty, manners, to the highest duchess in Arthur’s land. 1889, _Connecticut Yankee_ Actually, I stole this from Lighter. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/38 "2001-08-28T03:06:34Z")
**mhendo** what is the exact sentence in the 1883 OED quote for 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 28, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/39 "2001-08-28T03:18:58Z")
**To samclem:** The full OED citation follows (and you’ll see your Mark Twain reference in the list). > [@](#): > > An exclamation to call attention; also expressing some degree of surprise, as on meeting any one unexpectedly. > > ``` > A. as int. a. Also as a greeting. > > ``` > > **1883** _Breadwinners_ **241** Hello, Andy! you asleep. **1888** BLACK Adv. _House-boat_ xxiii, Hellohere’s more about evolution. **1967** _Listener_ 5 Oct. 427/2 ‘Hello,’ I thought, ‘Now she’s overdoing it.’ **1971** _Farmer & Stockbreeder_ 23 Feb. 3/3 Next week…we shall say hello again to most of you, and to 100,000 new readers as well. > > ``` > b. Used as an answer to a telephone call. > > ``` > > **1892** KIPLING _Lett. of Travel_ (1920) 94 A…millionaire…clawing wildly at the telephone… ‘Hello!.. Yes. Who’s there?’ **1922** S. LEWIS _Babbitt_ iv. 41 On the telephone they said only: ‘…Oh, Hello, 343?’ **1973** J. WAINWRIGHT _Pride of Pigs_ 169 She…picked up the receiver, waited for the S.T.D. pips to stop, said ‘Hello?’ and…recognised her brother’s voice. > > ``` > B. as n. > > ``` > > **1897** M. KINGSLEY _W. Africa_ 45 The amount of ‘Hellos’ ‘Are you theres?’ and ‘Speak louder, pleases’…that must at such times be poured out and wasted…before the break [in telephonic connexion] is realised. > > Comb. **1889** ‘MARK TWAIN’ _Connecticut Yankee_ 176 The humblest…hello-girl…could teach the highest duchess. **1895** _Critic_ 6 Apr. 263/2 The awful nuisance of the central [telephone] office, and…what is familiarly known as the ‘hello-girl’. **1928** _Daily Chron._ 4 Feb. (headline) Brave Hello Girls. **1971** _New Scientist_ 17 June p. iv, That was the day we said Goodbye to the Hello girls. > > ``` > Hence hello v., to shout hello! > > ``` > > **1895** _Critic_ 6 Apr. 263/2 There will be no helloing girl to ask you every minute, ‘Have you finished?’ while you are straining your ears to hear what the person you are talking to is saying. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2001, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218/40 "2001-08-28T03:33:28Z")
**mhendo** many thanks. So, it seems that Mark Twain possibly has the first printed usage of “hello” as a telephone greeting in 1889. Unless my poor tired brain missed something. If I did miss it, would someone post a cite by Edison or Grey where they said “hello.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hello-as-a-telephone-greeting/78218.md?page=3)