Why say "Hello"?

This is something that occasionally pops up in my head. You walk in a relatively crowded place and everybody ignores you. But when I walk in a park, on the sidewalk or other similar places and meet someone I automatically get the urge to look him/her in the eyes and nod or say something. If I don't I feel a bit guilty for being "rude". Which is a bit silly as we wouldn't greet each other if it was crowded.

Is this because we are learned to greet each other, but when it is crowded there is just no beginning to it (the scene of Crocodile Dundee in New York is a good example of that), so we do it because it is polite. There are times that you say "Hello" to feel assured as you usually have little to fear from someone if he greets you. Or is it something like dogs always greeting each other, a behaviour build into us but that gets surpressed by our logic when there are too many people around.

When I go walking on the moors and Dales and I happen across another walker, it is the convention to say hi!, hello! etc.....however if I go, say, shopping in Leeds I wouldn't say hello to anyone unless I knew them.

The reason is quite simple.

Up on the moors I may come across two or three people, whereas in Leeds city centre I'd probably encounter thousands of people....if I said hello to them all I'd either lose my voice or never get that Hugo Boss 'T' shirt I wanted for my holidays.....:2cents:

I enjoy being in large crowds. Its almost like being alone. You can lose yourself surrounded by strangers. The anonymity of irrelevance.

In towns (there is almost a complete absence of cities in Cheeseland), I don't go round greeting strangers out of sheer inconvenience. There are simply too many people (as stated above). However, if I am having a walk almost anywhere else, I always greet people. Friends of other countries have always told me that that was strange since I was greeting people I had never met before. Well, I am strange, what can I say. It's just the way I have been brought up (to greet people, not strange...).

Quid

In Rotorua it is not a very big city and just about everywhere you go you will find somebody you know, or at least recognise. Our shopping complexes (if they deserve that grand title) are never that crowded, except at Christmas. So you are always saying hello to someone you know, or in the case of my friends we will shout something random (like "MUSHROOM!" or "FLOSS!") at each other which is then followed by gibberish ramblings (which may involve random words we picked up from another language) or shrieking when we are half a metre apart just to get the attention of everyone in the store (and to laugh as people take a few cautious steps away). Then we start a normal conversation.

And you thought saying hello a lot was wierd :laugh4: .

I always wonder why we do a lot of the customary things we do. That is why I went Bohemian. :2thumbsup:

I was raised in the same measure as you guys. Unfortunately, in Romania, when you say Hello to a stranger, he looks at you very very weird, and sometimes, he throws a good word at you(hard swearing). :no:

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Originally Posted by Eclectic

I enjoy being in large crowds. Its almost like being alone. You can lose yourself surrounded by strangers. The anonymity of irrelevance.

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Oh yes. That's what I always do in big cities. Getting lost in the crowd like a drop of water in the rain. I like the feeling. But then again even looking at a tree dancing in the wind can make me smile. Or rain, everybody always search for shelters. While, I'll just enjoy it.

I always say hello or nod when I cross somebody unless there are to many people to say hello too.

Perhaps the ability of a culture to greet and welcome strangers should be considered a sign of civilization.

In spite of what the dictionary says about the origins of the word hello, I think it actually descends from the Latin spoken greeting of Salve, or be in good health, along with the written greeting of salutem.

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In spite of what the dictionary says about the origins of the word hello, I think it actually descends from the Latin spoken greeting of Salve, or be in good health, along with the written greeting of salutem.

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Most etymological dictionaries (if not all;)) don't agree with such a notion, but the concept of wishing the recipient of the greeting "good health" or something equivalent -or inquiring about his health- passed on in English through "salute".
Many languages use similar greetings: salut (French/ Romanian + Catalan toast), ní hǎo (Mandarin), geia (Greek) etc.

The Latin greeting ave is also related to health.

I have a problem saying hello to anyone, even people I know. I don't know why, it just seems too automatic(which makes it meaningless). If I don't have a need to say anything I won't say it.

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Originally Posted by L'Impresario

Most etymological dictionaries (if not all;)) don't agree with such a notion, but the concept of wishing the recipient of the greeting "good health" or something equivalent -or inquiring about his health- passed on in English through "salute".
Many languages use similar greetings: salut (French/ Romanian + Catalan toast), ní hǎo (Mandarin), geia (Greek) etc.

The Latin greeting ave is also related to health.

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Exactly my point. Ave Maria is translated as Hail, Mary. And yet etymologists insist that hail derives from the Middle English heilen which in turn comes from the Old English hæil, which means - oddly enough - good health!

Clearly, at least to me, hæil and salve/ave all have the same Indo-European root. Yet no mention is given in the etymology of hail or hello of the Latin greeting.

Yes, in German esp., heil retains the same meaning and from since many hundred years.
But even if looking or sounding the same, a word related to another does not make;)
(hello and kailo~ derived words I mean)

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Clearly, at least to me, hæil and salve/ave all have the same Indo-European root. Yet no mention is given in the etymology of hail or hello of the Latin greeting.

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The IE root for hæil (and by extension hail) is kailo~, while for hello the dominant theory is that it's a version of the 16th cent. interjection holla (halt, stop) and its father is the Latin illac.

Hmm heil also exist in dutch but then it means something along the lines of something that saves something/somebody. (Can't find the proper English word.)

Dutch is a germanic language, what did you expect ;)
If you mean something close to "saviour", then it's due to the Old Norse helge (sacred) branch of the IE root kailo~, which lead to halig, hailig, heilig etc.

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Originally Posted by Eclectic

I enjoy being in large crowds. Its almost like being alone. You can lose yourself surrounded by strangers. The anonymity of irrelevance.

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I'm a spy, in the house of love...
I know the dream, that you're dreamin' of...
I know the word, that you long to hear...
I know your deepest secret fear...

I know Everything.
Everything you do.
Everywhere you go.
Everyone you knooooow.








(Not you, Div.)

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Originally Posted by Zorba

I'm a spy, in the house of love...
I know the dream, that you're dreamin' of...
I know the word, that you long to hear...
I know your deepest secret fear...

I know Everything.
Everything you do.
Everywhere you go.
Everyone you knooooow.

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Huh? Is there something going on here that I missed? :inquisitive: