Catherine: Hello. I'm Catherine.
Rob: Hello. I'm Rob.
Catherine: We both started with what is probably
the best-known greeting in English
and one of the first words English language
students learn, and that is 'hello'!
So today in 6 Minute English
we're digging a little deeper into the world
of greetings and the fascinating history of 'hello'.
Rob: Surprisingly, the word 'hello' is not as old
as you might think. But when did it first appear
in print in English? Was it: a) in the 1890s,
b) the 1950s or c) the 1820s
Catherine: Well, I think English changes really quickly,
so I'm going to say b) the 1950s.
And we'll say 'hello again' to 'hello'
a little later in the programme.
Rob: First, greetings. They can be a bit of a minefield.
A subject full of unpredictable difficulties.
Catherine: While in many places a handshake or bow
is normal - there's also the tricky
question of kisses and hugs.
Rob: Awkward. Should you kiss? How many times?
And should your lips touch their cheek?
Catherine: No, Rob - definitely an air-kiss!
Close to the cheek, but don't touch. Much safer.
Rob: Greetings are the subject of a new book,
by former British diplomat Andy Scott, called
One Kiss or Two: In Search of the Perfect Greeting.
Here he is on a BBC radio show Word of Mouth.
Why are greetings so important?
Andy Scott: These are the first moments
of interaction we have with people.
And it's in those first moments,
and using those verbal and physical rituals
that we have and we can get in such a muddle
about, that we're kind of recognising
each other and reaffirming our bonds
or even testing our bonds and our relationships
with each other, we're signalling
our intentions towards each other, despite
the fact we might not necessarily be conscious
when we're doing them.
Catherine: Scott says we need to communicate
our intentions to each other and acknowledge
our relationships.
Rob: Well, that's what greetings do. One word he uses
to mean 'relationship' or 'connection' is bond.
We can reaffirm our bonds, which means
we confirm them and make them stronger.
Catherine: And we do it through rituals -
patterns of behaviour that we do
for a particular purpose.
So there are the phrases such as 'hello',
'good afternoon', 'nice to meet you',
and as well as the physical rituals - handshakes,
bows and kisses.
Rob: Though he also said we sometimes want
to test our bonds. We might want to check
if our friendship has grown by offering something
warmer than usual - like a hug instead of a handshake.
Now, Scott acknowledges how difficult greetings can be
- using the very British slang phrase -
to get in a muddle. If you get in a muddle,
you become confused or lost.
You might get in a muddle if one person expects two
kisses and the other expects only one.
Catherine: Though Scott does believe that the details
don't really matter, because another important
purpose of greetings is to reduce tension.
So if you get it wrong, just laugh about it.
Rob: OK, let's get back to the one word
we really shouldn't get in a muddle about, 'hello'.
Catherine: Let's listen to Dr Laura Wright,
a linguist from Cambridge University, also
speaking on the BBC Word of Mouth radio programme.
Where does 'hello' come from?
Dr Laura Wright: It starts as a distant hailing:
"I see you miles over there and I've got to
yell at you." It's not until the invention of telephones
we really get to use hello as a greeting to each other,
and even then it wasn't initially used as a greeting,
it was used more as an attention-grabbing device:
"You are miles away, the line is about to be cut,
I need to attract the attention of the operator as well."
And so everybody would call 'hello' to each other
as this long-distance greeting form.
Catherine: Laura says 'hello' hasn't always
meant 'hello' - originally it was just a shout
to attract someone's attention.
And we call this kind of shouting hailing.
Rob: The shout would vary in form -
it could sound like a 'hollo'! Or a 'hulloa'!
Catherine: We continued this kind of hailing
when telephones first appeared.
People would keep repeating 'hello, hello'
while they were waiting to be connected.
And before long, this became the actual way
to greet somebody on the telephone.
Anyway, before we say 'goodbye'
to 'hello' - let's have the answer to today's question.
Rob: I asked when the word first appeared
in print in English. According to the Oxford
English Dictionary, it was in 1826.
Other spellings appeared before that.
Catherine: Ah, you see - I was thinking English
changes really quickly, but not that quickly.
Rob: Not that quickly.
Catherine: So before we go, let's have a look at
today's vocabulary again.
A minefield is something that is full of uncertainty and
even danger. This sense comes from the literal
meaning - a field full of explosive landmines!
Rob: And then we had air-kiss - which is when
you kiss the air beside someone's face,
instead of the face itself! Like this: mwah.
Catherine: And we had bond - a connection.
There's a close bond between us I think, Rob.
Rob: Which is good, because when I get in a muddle,
you're always very understanding!
Catherine: Yeah.
Rob: To get in a muddle means to become confused.
Catherine: Ritual was another word -
rituals are certain behaviours that people perform
in certain contexts. I have a morning ritual:
brush my teeth, eat breakfast...
I didn't say it was an interesting ritual, Rob!
Rob: No, that's true. Finally, to hail - it's to greet
someone loudly, especially from a distance.
I hailed my friend when I saw her at the airport.
Catherine: And that's it for this programme.
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Bye!
Rob: Bye!