History JustForFun / Hello

Fun fact: "Hello" (or "hullo") used to be an expression of surprise or questioning (as in "Hullo, what's this?") until [[NewerThanTheyThink around the turn of the 20th century]] when it became the standard expression for answering the telephone. The modern use and spelling was "invented" by Thomas Edison; the first use of it with modern spelling was as a greeting in a letter from him to Alexander Graham Bell in 1887. [[note]] Hello, or rather "Hallu" from the hunting fields, was also the first recorded word, shouted by Edison to test Bell's prototype.[[/note]] (This would have been the rather nautical "Ahoy-hoy!" if Graham Bell had his way. [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Mr. Burns]] would approve.) From there it went on to become the catch-all greeting it is today. In French, "Bonjour"[[note]]Formal greeting[[/note]], "Salut"[[note]]Friendly/familiar greeting[[/note]] & "Allo"[[note]]Phone greeting[[/note]]. In Japan, they say "Konnichiwa" or (on the phone) "Moshi moshi" (which has an [[ContrivedCoincidence incredibly similar]] [[NoodleIncident quirky origin story]]). However, lots of countries do include some variant of "Hello" or "Allo" even if only for answering the phone. Interestingly, the German "Hallo" is still also used to express surprise or disbelief, but it's probably more likely in Austria than in Germany. The standard Spanish greeting, "Hola" (which comes from French via Old German, so it shares an origin with the English word "Hello") is also used to express surprise or disbelief (usually with a tinge of exasperation) when formulated as a question ("¿Hola?") and, finally, in the United Kingdom "hello" is still used to express surprise (often in a variation on the phrasing "ooh, hello") alongside being a (progressively more formal) greeting.

** On a certain episode of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'' entitled "The Voice", the titular character mocks his girlfriend's nighttime stomach gurgling with a loud, booming voice, bellowing "HELLOOOOO...la la laaaa"

'''Grievous:''' "General Kenobi! You are a bold one. [[ActuallyPrettyFunny *laughs*]]"

'''Grievous:''' "General Kenobi! You are a bold one."

--> "[[MemeticMutation Hello there!]]"

* '''"[[SensoryAbuse HELLO THERE!]]''' [[WebAnimation/YoutubePoop I am Doctor Rabbit!]]"

* ''WesternAnimation/DespicableMe'' and ''WesternAnimation/{{Minions}}'': The Minions say "bello".

** The Chinese say "喂(weí)?" on the phone.

* In [[VideoGame/RomeTotalWar Rome: Total War]], the content of your general's pre-battle speech is influenced by his reputation. Most of the speeches of [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking Roman generals]] are strings of [[NoIndoorVoice loud]], [[DareToBeBadass gung-ho]] [[RousingSpeech rallying cries]]. However, if your general is known as a tedious public speaker, there's a chance you will be treated to an almost inaudibly soft-spoken [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments speech]] that goes something like this:

Hello.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]

[[folder: Professional Wrestling ]]

* Tim Rogers begins his ''WebVideo/ActionButton'' videos with an emphatic "'''Hello.'''"

* [[Music/{{Nightwish}} Hello, how are you? Let me explain one thing...]] (From "Master Passion Greed")

->''"[[TropeNamers Hello.]] [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya My name is Inigo Montoya]] [[YouKilledMyFather You killed my father.]] [[PrepareToDie Prepare to die.]]"''

->''"[[TropeNamers Hello.]] {{My name is Inigo Montoya}}. {{You killed my father}}. {{Prepare to die}}."''

->''"[[TropeNamers Hello.]] [[MyNameIsInigoMontoya My name is Inigo Montoya.]] [[YouKilledMyFather You killed my father.]] [[PrepareToDie Prepare to die."]]''

-->'''Eddy''': ''(under his breath, telling Ed what he's supposed to say)'' Ladies and gentlemen...
-->'''Ed''': [[NoIndoorVoice LADIES AND GENTLE-HEADS!]]
-->'''Eddy''': ...come buy a delicious...
-->'''Ed''': COME BUY A DECIDUOUS... uh...
-->'''Eddy''': ...En-O-Gee Drink.
-->'''Ed''': HELLO!

* ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' meet with this. Stitch gives a guttural, drawn-out "hiiii", coupled with what's [[TechnicallyASmile supposed to be a smile]]. [[NightmareFetishist Lilo loves him on the spot.]] He also does the same greeting a few more times in [[Franchise/LiloAndStitch the sequels and spin-offs]], along with the [[AlohaHawaii obligatory for the original continuity's setting]], "Aloha!", usually in the form of "[[WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitchTheSeries Aloha,]] [[Characters/LiloAndStitchExperiments cousin!]]"

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Wayside}}'': Louis often answers the phone with "Jello?".

* Also, in the pilot, when Todd's classmates greet him on his first day at Wayside, the three Erics sing "hello" barbershop style.