Before the word hello came into the English language, what word was used when answering the phone?

Question

Our weekly trivia game just finished and I am proud to say that our team won and I was the only one out of 100+ in the room to get the correct answer to this question (I was the only one on our team that knew it and we were the only team to get the correct answer)

First correct answer gets 10 points :)

Answer 1

I found Ahoy on my google research

Answer 2

hallo?

hullo?

Answer 3

hey? HAHA hecka wrong

NEW ANSWER

Hmm.. Howdy? HAHA i'm just guessing

Answer 4

Ahoy hoy!

Answer 5

AHOY matey lol

Answer 6

Greetings.......?

Answer 7

I looked into my dictionary was was astonished to learn that the word "hello" was introduced into our language 40 years later than the word "telephone." (1849 - 1889) I am guessing that only the upper classes would have possessed telephones in the Victorian era and that only servants would have answered a call. "Buckingham Palace," "Windsor Castle" or "The Rothschild residence" are possible  expressions that come to mind.

"Ahoy" may well have been the choice A.G. Bell, and that is a delicious bit of trivia, but your question was couched in more general terms.

Answer 8

"Hello" was in use long before the telephone was invented.

Fascinating to discover the connection between the telephone and "hello". My dictionary simply defines "hello" (also hallo, hullo) ... good question, good answer picador!

Answer 9

Ahoy

Hello is a salutation or greeting in the English language and is synonymous with other greetings such as Hi or Hey. Hello was recorded in dictionaries in 1883.

The word hello has also been credited to Thomas Edison, specifically as a way to greet someone when answering the telephone; according to one source, he expressed his surprise with a misheard Hullo. Alexander Graham Bell initially used Ahoy (as used on ships) as a telephone greeting. However, in 1877, Edison wrote to T.B.A. David, the president of the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company of Pittsburg:

"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."

By 1889, central telephone exchange operators were known as 'hello-girls' due to the association between the greeting and the telephone.

Answer 10

um, im sure the word "hello" was invented in the English language way before the phone  was so...

Answer 11

They couldn't answer the phone because it wasn't invented yet.

Answer 12

Ahoy