Why do we say "hello" when we answer the phone?

Question

A greeting would make sense. But think, when answering a phone, we dont SAY hello, we ASK "hello?"...

Answer 1

We're greeting the person who is calling us. You don't necessarily have to say "Hello", you could even say "Hi", or "Hey", or something. But the traditional way is to say "Hello" to greet the person, kind of like when you greet someone you see in person.

Answer 2

Here in Switzerland we don't say hello. We say our name.

Answer 3

because it's the first thing you say to a person when you meet somebody but on the phone you say it with a tone of question so it's a greeting and a question if there's someone on the other line or not or who it is.

Answer 4

Because saying "smarkle" never caught on.

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.

First use

Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872 (written between 1870 and 1871), so its first use must have predated the telephone.  Earlier uses can be found back to 1849 and 1846

It was listed in dictionaries by 1883.

The word was extensively used in literature by the 1860s.  Two early uses of hello can be found as far back as 1826.

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-hoy (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 5

Because Thomas Edison invented it it 1877 (the word Hello, not the telephone!). He was testing Graham Bell's invention (the telephone, which wasn't actually his invention!) It caught on...obviously...the word 'hello', not the telephone, although that did too.

The use prior to 1877 was associated with Hullo, which was an expression of surprise (Charles Dickens Oliver Twist) or Halloo used as a calling.

Answer 6

Well, they tried saying "goodbye" but the conversations didn't last very long.  Besides, what else is there to say.

Answer 7

Haha, i just did that exact thing one second ago :)

Its something everyone understands i guess and its a greeting all over the world.

Answer 8

Universal greeting...? I don't know.

Answer 9

its how we greet people

Answer 10

I say "wat do u want" to my freinds. otherwise i say, "hello this is shayna speaking."

Answer 11

idk

Answer 12

its a polite greeting that allows the caller to know that there call was connected.