A common feature that cuts across all the cultures of the world is the fact that we all get to greet people almost every day of our lives. However, the way we greet usually varies based on the relationship we share with the people we meet. While we might hug and call friends funny names, other persons might just get a simple ‘hello’ from us. This hereby has made the greeting very popular across the globe and history also has it that it has been used for more than a hundred years to exchange pleasantries. Nowadays though, it has been noticed that there are trendy ways you can still say ‘hello’ to people without actually using the word. Know all about these fun and unique ways below!
All The Funny Ways To Say Hello
Even though ‘Hello!’ still remains the most popular way people greet whether they are old buddies, casual friends, or even strangers, there are a few ways it has been revamped to add some excitement to it. More so, there are new greetings that have been coined to say the same thing but in a more personal, or fun way.
However, this type of funny greetings is best suitable for family and friends whom you relate with on a regular basis. So if you want to amuse your friends with exciting and catchy ways of saying ‘Hello’, the list below will come in handy:
1. Hey, Sunshine! How are you? Your rays have already brightened my day!
This greeting is perfect when you are speaking to someone you admire especially a girl. The sun is known for illumination and anyone who can make your day as bright as it would definitely be happy to hear it from you.
2. There’s My Pumpkin!
When you greet someone by calling them ‘Pumpkin’, it is a more exciting greeting than just the usual plain ‘Hello’. This kind of greeting can be used for persons who are close to both adults and children.
3. What’s roasting, little poulet?
This greeting is a combination of saying both ‘Hello’ and asking what’s going on. You can use it for your close female friends as well as your sisters and young girls.
4. Howdy-doody! Bring me up to date!
This is an upbeat greeting that can be used to greet close friends and catch up with the recent happening in their lives.
5. Ghostbusters! Where did you guys come from?
When you have friends that can be quite a handful, this greeting is perfect when greeting them. It is fun and you all will have a good laugh afterward.
You can also coin various fun greetings which might include:
- Yoooouhoooo! Who’s this birdie?
- Hey, kitkat! Why so sweeeet?
- Howdy Einstein! Solved the theory yet?
- Here comes my Honeybunch with a lot of sweetness!
- Hey Hot Thing! You set this place on fire
More Tips To Make Any Greeting Fun
There are also several techniques you can use to make any greeting to be very funny and they include:
• Making use of Accents: Silly accents always have a way to make people crack up and if you are able to pull it off well, then consider using it to amuse your friend anytime you greet them.
• Try Out Impersonations: These have a way to make your greeting very amusing especially when they are lousy impersonations!
• Start With A Joke: Telling the right joke before you start a conversation is a sure way to win the heart of the person you are speaking with and it will definitely amuse your friends and make the entire conversation flow pretty well.
• Chip In Foreign Words: Many a time, people find it amusing when someone speaks a foreign language. This could be because of the funny way they say the word, their intonation, or even the look on their faces as they speak the foreign language. You can try chipping in a few foreign words when greeting your friends and this will actually put smiles on their faces
Various Slang Ways To Say Hello
Slangs are common vocabularies used by people who know themselves very well or those in a particular social group. It is basically an informal language that is used to communicate however, it is important to note that slangs are not acceptable in all social settings as it can offend people who are not familiar with it.
It is hereby important to note that while greeting people, slang can only be used if the people you are addressing are close friends who understand the expressions of the informal language. More so, ensure that you know the meaning of a particular slang before you use it.
Below are some slangs ways of greeting people which are pretty interesting:
1. Wats poppin Chica?
This is a popular slang way that can be used to both greet and ask a young girl or lady what is going on in their life.
2. Waddup Brah? Welcome!
When you are talking with your close male friends, this kind of greeting is suitable as it shows a very close bond.
3. YOOO! Slayers, Waddup?
This is a slang greeting that is actually fun to use when you are with your girlfriends especially the good-looking ones you are proud of.
4. Hey There, Fresher!
Slang ways to say ‘Hello’ are also very popular in the school setting as well as the office. So if you have a new colleague or you know someone who is in the first year of their college education, this slang greeting will be appropriate.
5. Sup Hommie, How’s it going?
This is a typical slang greeting that can be used in a circle of very good friends who actually see themselves closer than the way ‘mere friends’ do. It is also a brotherly or sisterly kind of slang greeting.
Apart from the above, one can also come up with several other slang ways to say ‘hello’ to their friends and acquaintances which might include greetings like:
- Yo Man! Where have you been?
- That’s my ride-or-die chick!
- Hey Buddy! Wazzup?
- Hiya Babe, How you holding up?
- Dude! Welcome to the hood man!
Old Fashioned Ways to Say Hello
The exchange of pleasantries have been in existence long before the word ‘Hello’ became popular. During those ancient days, people were greeted mainly based on the time of the day and asking questions about the person’s health.
Some notable old ways of greeting include:
- Good Morning to thee friend
- How fare you lad?
- Ahoy!
- Welcome be ye friends
- Hail be thee
- Good Dawning my lady
- Peace be with you
- Greeting!
Besides the words that were spoken, there were several other ways to exchange pleasantries back then which are hardly practiced these days and they include:
• Ordinary Handshakes: this can be traced as far back to the Ancient Greeks and Romans as it was a norm back then to perform a handshake with the right hand to acknowledge the presence of someone. Why the right hand was preferred was because the left hand was marked as ‘unclean’ and it will be a sign of extreme disrespect to offer it to someone while greeting the person.
• Kissing: unlike these modern times when kissing is usually associated with romantic relationships, that was not the case in the olden days. Kissing as a way of greeting was very popular that is ranked second to handshakes. This is because, in those ancient times, a kiss on the cheek, the hand, and even on the lips was used as a way of greeting among friends and acquaintances.
• Bowing: this was a way of greeting introduced in ancient times to show the class difference in society. Usually, people of the same class can either exchange handshakes or a kiss but when someone of a low class meets a person with a higher status, the acceptable form of greeting is for the lower class person to bow before the higher class person. However, in recent times, this way of greeting has been revamped in countries like China and Japan to accommodate all classes, so most people now bow to greet and it has nothing to do with class differences.
The Different Ways To Say “Hello” in Other Languages
Apart from English-speaking countries, other countries in the world also have their own unique ways of saying ‘Hello’ as a way of greeting. Below is a list of how you can say hello in some of the popular languages of the world:
- Japanese – Konnichiwa (formal), Yā, Yō (informal)
- German – Guten Tag (formal), Hallo, Hi (informal)
- Portuguese – Olá (formal), Oi (informal)
- Korean – Anyoung haseyo (formal), Anyoung (informal)
- Arabic – Asalaam alaikum (formal , meaning;Peace be upon you), Ahlan (informal)
- French – Bonjour ( formal), Salut (informal)
- Spanish – Hola (formal), ¿Qué tal? (informal meaning :What’s up?)
- Russian – Zdravstvuyte (forma)l, Privet (informal)
- Chinese – Nǐn hǎo(formal), Nǐ hǎo (informal)
- Italian – Salve (formal), Ciao (informal)
- Indonesian – Selamat siang (formal), Halo (informal)
Informal: Halo - Hindi – Namaste (formal), Namaskar( formal), Hai (informal), Helo (informal)
- Turkish – Merhaba (formal), Selam (informal)
- Hebrew – Shalom (formal), Hey (informal)
- Swedish – God dag (formal), Hej, Tjena (informal)
- Danish – Goddag (formal), Hej, Halløj (informal)
- Swahili – Shikamoo (formal), Habari (informal), Hujambo( informal)
- Dutch – Goedendag (formal), Hoi (informal), Hallo (informal)
- Greek – Yassas (formal), Yassou (informal)
- Polish – Dzień dobry (formal), Cześć (informal), Witaj (informal)
What Does Hello Really Mean?
We have all grown so used to saying ‘Hello’ when we greet people as it is perceived to represent a form of salutation. However, it would surprise you to know that the word was not really meant for greeting people, rather, it was used initially to hail ferrymen. What this means is that ‘Hello’ was used as a way of getting the attention of a ferryman.
The world is also known to be an alteration of the Old High German words “halâ holâ, halôn, holôn” meaning to get someone’s attention to fetch something which was as of then, popular among ferrymen. More so, ‘Hello’ has a connection with the word ‘holla’ which originated from the French word ‘holà’ usually used to express surprise like ‘whoa there!’. The British word ‘hullo’ which is also used to show surprise has been linked to ‘Hello’.
So, contrary to popular belief and usage, ‘Hello’ was actually supposed to be a way of getting a person’s attention and not for exchanging pleasantries. Nonetheless, due to the wide usage by most people after the 1800s to greet people, its new definition as a way of greeting has become widely accepted.
Who Invented Hello?
Although you might assume that ‘Hello’ has been around for a very long time, but that is not so. According to research, the word only came into the existence sometime in the 1800s and its first appearance in a publication is dated 1827. More so, the renowned inventor, Thomas Edison is credited for the popularity ‘Hello’ has today as a form of greeting. This is because when Edison introduced his telephone, he urged people to use ‘Hello’ whenever they answer the phone. However, Alexander Graham Bell who is also a renowned inventor, was against the idea as he believed that ‘ahoy’ was a better way to answer the phone.
This became quite a controversial issue back then because ‘Hello’ was relatively new when compared to ‘Ahoy’ which had been used for about a hundred years before ‘Hello’ was invented. More so, unlike ‘Hello’ which had originated from an expression that shows surprise, ‘Ahoy’ was actually a greeting and this made Alexander Bell all the more determined to stick to his opinion that one should use ‘Ahoy’ when answering the phone instead of ‘Hello’.
However, with time, people began to use ‘Hello’ more than ‘Ahoy’ when answering the phone, and when the first phone book was published in 1987 by the District of Telephone Compay, New Haven, Connecticut, they recommended that users should start a conversation saying ‘hulloa’ Since this word had a similar sound as ‘hello’ as the ‘a’ at the end of the word is silent, it also helped to make ‘Hello’ very popular. Eventually, ‘Hello’ won over all its rivals and today it is ranked the most popular form of salutation in the world.
