I always answer the phone pronto, if I don’t the answering machine picks up.
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:
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.
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?
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’.
A quick search at 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.
This is how I taught my 9 y/o to answer the phone when she was much smaller. I smile whenever she still does.
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.
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…
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 
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.
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.
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!”
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by ThisYearsGirl *
**
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
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).
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:
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!!!
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.
mhendo what is the exact sentence in the 1883 OED quote for Hello?
To samclem:
The full OED citation follows (and you’ll see your Mark Twain reference in the list).
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.”