The history of 'hello' - 6 Minute English

Catherine: Hello. I'm Catherine.

Rob: Hello. I'm Rob.

Catherine: We both started with what is probably

the best-known greeting in English

and one of the first words English language

students learn, and that is 'hello'!

So today in 6 Minute English

we're digging a little deeper into the world

of greetings and the fascinating history of 'hello'.

Rob: Surprisingly, the word 'hello' is not as old

as you might think. But when did it first appear

in print in English? Was it: a) in the 1890s,

b) the 1950s or c) the 1820s

Catherine: Well, I think English changes really quickly,

so I'm going to say b) the 1950s.

And we'll say 'hello again' to 'hello'

a little later in the programme.

Rob: First, greetings. They can be a bit of a minefield.

A subject full of unpredictable difficulties.

Catherine: While in many places a handshake or bow

is normal - there's also the tricky

question of kisses and hugs.

Rob: Awkward. Should you kiss? How many times?

And should your lips touch their cheek?

Catherine: No, Rob - definitely an air-kiss!

Close to the cheek, but don't touch. Much safer.

Rob: Greetings are the subject of a new book,

by former British diplomat Andy Scott, called

One Kiss or Two: In Search of the Perfect Greeting.

Here he is on a BBC radio show Word of Mouth.

Why are greetings so important?

Andy Scott: These are the first moments

of interaction we have with people.

And it's in those first moments,

and using those verbal and physical rituals

that we have and we can get in such a muddle

about, that we're kind of recognising

each other and reaffirming our bonds

or even testing our bonds and our relationships

with each other, we're signalling

our intentions towards each other, despite

the fact we might not necessarily be conscious

when we're doing them.

Catherine: Scott says we need to communicate

our intentions to each other and acknowledge

our relationships.

Rob: Well, that's what greetings do. One word he uses

to mean 'relationship' or 'connection' is bond.

We can reaffirm our bonds, which means

we confirm them and make them stronger.

Catherine: And we do it through rituals -

patterns of behaviour that we do

for a particular purpose.

So there are the phrases such as 'hello',

'good afternoon', 'nice to meet you',

and as well as the physical rituals - handshakes,

bows and kisses.

Rob: Though he also said we sometimes want

to test our bonds. We might want to check

if our friendship has grown by offering something

warmer than usual - like a hug instead of a handshake.

Now, Scott acknowledges how difficult greetings can be

- using the very British slang phrase -

to get in a muddle. If you get in a muddle,

you become confused or lost.

You might get in a muddle if one person expects two

kisses and the other expects only one.

Catherine: Though Scott does believe that the details

don't really matter, because another important

purpose of greetings is to reduce tension.

So if you get it wrong, just laugh about it.

Rob: OK, let's get back to the one word

we really shouldn't get in a muddle about, 'hello'.

Catherine: Let's listen to Dr Laura Wright,

a linguist from Cambridge University, also

speaking on the BBC Word of Mouth radio programme.

Where does 'hello' come from?

Dr Laura Wright: It starts as a distant hailing:

"I see you miles over there and I've got to

yell at you." It's not until the invention of telephones

we really get to use hello as a greeting to each other,

and even then it wasn't initially used as a greeting,

it was used more as an attention-grabbing device:

"You are miles away, the line is about to be cut,

I need to attract the attention of the operator as well."

And so everybody would call 'hello' to each other

as this long-distance greeting form.

Catherine: Laura says 'hello' hasn't always

meant 'hello' - originally it was just a shout

to attract someone's attention.

And we call this kind of shouting hailing.

Rob: The shout would vary in form -

it could sound like a 'hollo'! Or a 'hulloa'!

Catherine: We continued this kind of hailing

when telephones first appeared.

People would keep repeating 'hello, hello'

while they were waiting to be connected.

And before long, this became the actual way

to greet somebody on the telephone.

Anyway, before we say 'goodbye'

to 'hello' - let's have the answer to today's question.

Rob: I asked when the word first appeared

in print in English. According to the Oxford

English Dictionary, it was in 1826.

Other spellings appeared before that.

Catherine: Ah, you see - I was thinking English

changes really quickly, but not that quickly.

Rob: Not that quickly.

Catherine: So before we go, let's have a look at

today's vocabulary again.

A minefield is something that is full of uncertainty and

even danger. This sense comes from the literal

meaning - a field full of explosive landmines!

Rob: And then we had air-kiss - which is when

you kiss the air beside someone's face,

instead of the face itself! Like this: mwah.

Catherine: And we had bond - a connection.

There's a close bond between us I think, Rob.

Rob: Which is good, because when I get in a muddle,

you're always very understanding!

Catherine: Yeah.

Rob: To get in a muddle means to become confused.

Catherine: Ritual was another word -

rituals are certain behaviours that people perform

in certain contexts. I have a morning ritual:

brush my teeth, eat breakfast...

I didn't say it was an interesting ritual, Rob!

Rob: No, that's true. Finally, to hail - it's to greet

someone loudly, especially from a distance.

I hailed my friend when I saw her at the airport.

Catherine: And that's it for this programme.

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Bye!

Rob: Bye!