What's the meaning/point of the word "hello"?

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I don't know where to post this question.

All my life I've been wondering what it means to say hello, hi, good morning, etc.
From what I understand it means two people are meeting for the first time on that day. I suppose they both know that fact, so why say it out loud? what's the point? who decided it had to be said every day? why not say "good year" in January and be done with it?
I understand asking how someone is doing, but hello....?

It's a signal. It means "I am present, focusing on you, and will either begin talking to you, or am receptive to being talked to"

Some people take it farther, and it's merely ceremonial, and they treat it like the more they perpetrate the ceremony, the better they are. Personally I don't like ceremony very much. So I can really relate to what you're saying.....

Yet somehow, personally, I find some limited gratification in a greeting sometimes. Sometimes it just feels superfluous, and sometimes it doesn't....
I'm not sure what the pattern is.

"Hi" is better than "How are you going?" or "How are you?"

At least, "Hi" isn't a question.

When people ask me "How are you?" I feel like giving them a lecture about my difficulties in understanding and naming my feelings: "I don't know how I am! I don't want to think about it! Stop asking me, will you?!?!"

dictionary

Sound, i'm not sure it means someone is willing to talk. it's a word everybody says when they meet someone, like it's a rule and if you don't respect it you're pure evil. When neighbours meet they say hi quickly and go away, none of them are willing to talk, i don't get it

one-A-N, i noticed the answer to "how are you doing?" is "fine". it doesn't matter to them if you're great or down, they're just asking because it's the rule. they don't really mean it. just answer "i'm fine", that's all they need. they're also ok when there's no answer.

Eggman, thanks, didn't help though.

i most often overlook the fact that someone has said "hello".
it is not that i am consciously ignoring them, but more it is like it is such an often said thing that i am desensitized due to repetitive exposure to it.

the only people who say "hello" to me are people in shops where i go, and when i go to shops, i have an impatient idea of what i want to buy so i neglect to notice their greeting.

example:

bakery shop cashier: hi! how are you going?
me: yes 2 curry pies and a vanilla slice thank you.

example:
newspaper cashier: good morning. how are you today?
me: just these 2 thankyou.

the only time i say "hello" is to attract someones attention.
if i go into a shop where the counter person is not there, i will say "hello?" to get their attention, and as soon as they return i dictate my order.

when people i know ring me up on the phone and say "hello mark" i may say "hello" eg:"hello yes what do you want to say?"

i wish i was not the way i am to a microscopic degree.
i know i seem cold and aloof and eccentric and people do not warm to me, but on the other hand, i am glad i am not consulted often by people with expectations of warmth and whatever they need which is a chore for me to provide.

I think that is well stated. It is also one reason I dislike saying hello, because it implies I am receptive to being talked to, when in reality I am responding to avoid appearing rude.



I agree with this as well, I work with one person in particular who insists on greeting everyone, and when addressing me, tends to adopt a tone indicating she is impatiently waiting for a response she knows I dislike to provide.

This is what I meant about people taking the ceremony too far. Clearly they don't care, they're just doing the tradition for traditions sake. It's purely dogmatic and hollow, but they've internalized the tradition and ceremony as a virtue unto itself. Blech.

What's irritating is that if you don't follow their code of virtues(by replying), you face potential social repercussions. So in a weird way, greeting others and expecting a response is like inflicting your personal morals on another person.
...I know it's a stretch, but the theme is in there!


Exactly! Same here. But actually, I don't fail to notice it... It simply annoys me.
What's worse are store greeters. They stand at the front and smile and say hello, perpetrating the ultimate sham. Not only is it fake - it's degrading for the person in that lousy position. They have to do their arbitrary monkey dance because their boss tells them to, despite all logic. They might as well be digging a hole in the dirt out back, and then filling it it. Then re-digging it, then re-filling it.
It's empty, a waste of energy, and a waste of life, and a lie on top.
Graaah!!



I've felt that notion, a pang of guilt for seemingly not caring to converse with the person I'm checking out groceries from, to join in the never-ending ceremony.
But on the other hand, I know that when I actually want to be social, I'm not cold. So I don't feel that bad about it. And I know that when occasionally I smile and say hello, how you doing, I actually mean it, and would actually care if they responded to my question without resorting to the ceremonial "fine".

...Occasionally, if I'm feeling frisky, and someone asks me how I'm doing, I actually tell them. Even though I know they don't care. It's kinda mean though, because I'm sorta doing it out of vindictiveness for asking me that stupid question without meaning it.

Hello is the standard form of greeting within the English language; a way of being polite enough to acknowledge someone's presence without the intent of getting into a conversation.

This drove me crazy when I first moved to the US, and it doesn't feel any less awkward now. It always reminds me of this scene from Idiocracy

What gets me as well is that, where I live at least, a lot of customers respond with a "I'm good, how are you today?" in the same practised, insincere way. It's one thing for the cashier to say "How are you?" to 200 different people each day, but for them to be asked the same question back 200 times in a row is pretty silly.

I actually kind of miss the relative rudeness of people back in Britain. It's less uncomfortable than forced, half-hearted politeness.

Mrraawwghgh!! Must... put... pressure on the head... to stop it.... from exploding....!

Greeting trivia: The greeting "How are you doing?" and it's variations are considered to be rude in many cultures, as they imply the person might not be doing fine. The French "Ca va?" for example is reserved for close, informal relationships only.

I like the Latin greeting "Salve" (pronounced sol-way). It feels safe.

out for my morning exercise, a neighbor out of my eyesight said "good mornin' to ya!" but something prevented me from doing the civil thing of turning around, finding him and saying back to him, "Hiya!" the main reason was that i couldn't see him behind his shrubbery so i couldn't be sure he was talking to me or somebody else on his cellphone. in the past i have embarrassed the dickens out of myself by reply-greeting people who it turned out were only talking to somebody else on their cellphones, i found this to be mortifying. so when the aforementioned neighbor said "good mornin' to ya!" i didn't know what to do, i couldn't think quickly enough to figure out whether or not i should've just turned around, looked through the shrubbery to see him, then wave "Hiya!" back to him. it tormented me for the rest of my morning excursion. i was mentally beating myself up about the head and shoulders, saying "now you've done it! you've unnecessarily made yet another enemy when you could've made a friend! damn it all to hell! etc."

That's my problem with these fake words (please, thx, hi, etc.), people say them because they have to. If you don't you'll be sentenced to death As a result people don't necessarily mean any of it, and to my mind it makes these words worthless. They would mean something if people used them when they mean it. Like thanking somebody when you actually feel like it. To some extent you never know if a person is happy with a present you gave them because they say thanks no matter what. You keep wasting money on trinkets that aren't appreciated, which makes everyone unhappy somehow, but nobody will say a word.




Don't even get me started with work! Saying bonjour to any form of life that gets in is tiring me out. especially since I have trouble recognizing faces. With regular clients I'm OK, but I can say bonjour several times to a new client, not noticing I've seen that person already. So now I let whoever comes in say bonjour first, because saying bonjour twice is wrooong. I don't get this society. :/
And then there's the kissing. Boy do I hate that. People require hand shaking or cheek kissing, if you don't respect what they want they get upset. You go to work and you have to kiss every single person in the room. Saying hello out loud with your best smile is not gonna cut it, 2 kisses for everybody is the rule I even have two clients who kiss me.



I don't know which part of France you're from (or you've been), but in my area (62) "ça va?" is not necessarily for close friendships. I have colleagues and clients at work who tell me "ça va", and all I know about them is their names. No friendship there at all. It's just yet another fake way of "being nice". And ten minutes later they'll make fun of me, my routine, my verbal "skills", etc. Very nice...

My standard greeting is "how ya doin" in some sort of one syllable grunt with no follow up.

I probably should change that.

Mine is a smile and a nod.
I value greetings to some limited degree, it's just that so many people are so damned dogmatic about it.

On the other hand, it seems I just have-it-out for tradition and ceremony, in general.
For instance, I can't stand it when someone says "bless you" when I sneeze. I hate that, and only partly for my atheism.