People are just learning why we say ‘hello’ on the phone – and very strange greeting we nearly used instead
AS a child one of the first things we learn when talking to other people – in person and on the phone – is how to say “hello.”
However, the infamous greeting could have been very different if one inventor had his way.
The first reported use of “hello” dates back to the early 1800s.
At the time, the word was used to attract attention in phrases like “Well, hello! What do we have here?”, according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
“Hello” stems from other older greetings like “hail,” which primarily was used during the Middle Ages.
So, how did this word come to be one of the most common greetings worldwide?
Thomas Edison.
In 1992, the New York Times reported that the American inventor suggested the use of the word in an unpublished letter found in the American Telephone and Telegraph Company Archives.
The letter, discovered by Brooklyn College Professor Allen Koenigsberg, was dated August 15, 1877 and addressed to T.B.A. David, the president of the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh.
At the time, David was looking to introduce the telephone to the Pennsylvania city, according to the New York Times.
Per the letter, the two appeared to be discussing how individuals on either line of the telephone would know when the other party wanted to speak.
In line with the history of how “hello” was used, Edison proposed the greeting.
“Friend David, I don’t think we shall need a call bell as Hello! Can be heard 10 to 20 feet away. What do you think? Edison,” the letter read, per the New York Times.
It wasn’t until 1880 that “hello” was reportedly considered the best way to answer a telephone.
Before that, several other words and phrases were proposed, such as “What is wanted?”
However, the most notable greeting almost used was proposed by Alexander Graham Bell, who is credited with inventing the first telephone.
At the time, Bell was lobbying for people to use the word “Ahoy!” when answering the phone.
Similar to early uses of “hello,” “Ahoy” was often used to call attention to something.
However, typically, the greeting is used nautically – to hail another ship at sea.
Despite “hello” winning out in the telephone greeting battle, reports claim Bell went on to use “Ahoy” when answering the phone the rest of his life.
Had he been successful in this campaign for the salutation, conversations over the phone today could have been quite different.