“Hello, is it me you’re looking for…”
Lionel Richie
This word starts almost every our post and this word is one of the most frequently used words in the world. Yo, howdy, hey, hi, how are you, ahoy and many others are used as synonymous for greeting people, but hello is considered one of the most common. “Hola!” In Spanish, “Namaste” in Hindi, “Ni hao” in Mandarin Chinese, “privet” in Russian…yeah, this word is really popular! In fact, we use this word several times a day – for a greeting or for attracting someone’s attention. But have you ever believed that this word was originally used for inciting dogs in the 1800s? I bet you haven’t! Would you like to know more?
The role of Thomas Edison, a famous inventor, also should be mentioned. First Alexander Bell used “ahoy” telephone greeting. But soon Edison suggested “hello” – according to the accepted story, he expressed his surprise with a misheard “Hullo”. In his letter to T. David, the president of the Central Telegraph Company of Pittsburg, Edison wrote: “Friend David, I do not think we shall need a call bell as Hello! can be heard 10 to 20 feet away. What you think? Edison – P.S. first cost of sender & receiver to manufacture is only $7.00.” Either way, though, so-called “hello-girls” appeared by 1889. They were central telephone exchange operators and they used “Hello” greeting as well.
The tradition of celebrating World Hello Day is relatively recent. This annual holiday appeared to be commemorated in 1973, by Michael McCormack and Brian McCormack. They discovered the idea of Hello Day in response to the Yom Kippur War. Actually, the war conflict between Egypt and Israel in 1973 was the reason of protest, expressed in such a pacifist way. Any person, who would like to take part in commemorating World Hello Day, commits to greet at least 10 persons, just saying them “Hello!” World Hello Day marks its 40th anniversary this year and reminds us about the necessity for communication between people.
Well, would you like to participate? Choose several persons and greet them. No matter would you know them or not. You can choose one of the girls on Step2love and say “hello” to her. Who can guess? It might be your destiny.