Onlineisms rant

[bolt pp]

Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872 (written between 1870 and 1871),[2] so its first use must have predated the telephone:

So Tank might be right - especially if the bloke who invented the first telephone kept it secret for a few years - until someone else invented another one, enabling a 'phone call to take place. He might have invented the telephone before electricity was invented, so had to wait until it was, so it would work.

Tank gets the points.

how?

pure anti t-shirtism imo!

look at the whole piece, it documents written use of the word 5 years prior, and then 30 years prior!

it's original derivative hullo is noted in use 1838 in oliver twist and also the example given by gatso from around the same time.

that's not just a t-shirt, thats a baseball cap and sunglasses as well!!

[bolt pp]

first use of hello according to OED 1834, well before the phone

1834 J. C. HART Miriam Coffin II. v. 70 There have we been hunting and helloing all over for thee, and lo-and-behold, thou art here!

exactly, see what i'm saying.

you didnt need to look that up though to know in your own heart that there was just no fucking way the term hello didnt pre-date the telephone.

I'm a pretty tolerent guy but that's pure sloppy work tank, i dont know where you read it but didnt it strike you as a bit odd?

if someone came up to me in the pub and called my bird a slag, slated my familly, called me a mug and poured a drink over my head i'd like to think i could resolve the situation peacefully but if someone came up to me in the pub, right up to my face and said: "did you know the word hello didnt exist prior to the invention of the telephone" then i'd smash his fucking head in.

That's why this part-time poor excuse for an etymologist stays the fuck out of your local.

Learnt that the hard way telling random people in the Dagenham Arms that the punctuation mark ellipses, were named after eclipses.
Ellipses have three dots in a row (...) whereas eclipses have three orbs (the sun, the moon and the earth) all aligned.

fml... never again
They put three dots of their own on my forehead with some skanky darts and said "what the fuck are you gonna call them you posh twat"
Had to get a tetanus shot. I'm sticking to the intenetz from now on.

what did you go with?

[tikay]

Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872 (written between 1870 and 1871),[2] so its first use must have predated the telephone:

So Tank might be right - especially if the bloke who invented the first telephone kept it secret for a few years - until someone else invented another one, enabling a 'phone call to take place. He might have invented the telephone before electricity was invented, so had to wait until it was, so it would work.

Tank gets the points.

how?

pure anti t-shirtism imo!

look at the whole piece, it documents written use of the word 5 years prior, and then 30 years prior!

it's original derivative hullo is noted in use 1838 in oliver twist and also the example given by gatso from around the same time.

that's not just a t-shirt, thats a baseball cap and sunglasses as well!!

6 years in 130 years = about 4%.

Standard deviation & margin for error is 5% in such matters.

Accept defeat gracefully.

[gatso]

maybe it comes from when people had papercups on a piece of string. that's gotta be earlier than proper telephones

[bolt pp]

Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872 (written between 1870 and 1871),[2] so its first use must have predated the telephone:

So Tank might be right - especially if the bloke who invented the first telephone kept it secret for a few years - until someone else invented another one, enabling a 'phone call to take place. He might have invented the telephone before electricity was invented, so had to wait until it was, so it would work.

Tank gets the points.

how?

pure anti t-shirtism imo!

look at the whole piece, it documents written use of the word 5 years prior, and then 30 years prior!

it's original derivative hullo is noted in use 1838 in oliver twist and also the example given by gatso from around the same time.

that's not just a t-shirt, thats a baseball cap and sunglasses as well!!

6 years in 130 years = about 4%.

Standard deviation & margin for error.

Accept defeat gracefully.

sigh,

fine, you adjudicate then, when was the first time you heard it used? 

[tikay]

maybe it comes from when people had papercups on a piece of string. that's gotta be earlier than proper telephones

Correct. Papercups on a piece of string were invented in 1869, as everyone knows.

[Ironside]

Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872 (written between 1870 and 1871),[2] so its first use must have predated the telephone:

So Tank might be right - especially if the bloke who invented the first telephone kept it secret for a few years - until someone else invented another one, enabling a 'phone call to take place. He might have invented the telephone before electricity was invented, so had to wait until it was, so it would work.

Tank gets the points.

how?

pure anti t-shirtism imo!

look at the whole piece, it documents written use of the word 5 years prior, and then 30 years prior!

it's original derivative hullo is noted in use 1838 in oliver twist and also the example given by gatso from around the same time.

that's not just a t-shirt, thats a baseball cap and sunglasses as well!!

6 years in 130 years = about 4%.

Standard deviation & margin for error.

Accept defeat gracefully.

sigh,

fine, you adjudicate then, when was the first time you heard it used? 

what you talking about tikay invented it

[ItsMrAlex2u]

Did you know that prior to the invention of the telephone, the word 'hello' did not exist.
It was invented just so that people had something to say when they picked up the reciever. There was a lexical gap, and it got filled.

It's not that there wasn't already a way they could express the sentiment. "Good day to you!" or "How do you do?" but people felt a little silly saying this because they didn't know who was on the other end.
"Who is this?" was just a little too rude sounding.

"Hello" came along, and fit nicely in the middle.





Groups of people, especially young people and siblings, were always inventing new words to express sentiment. A kind of verbal shorthand develops between people in the same environment, with similar interests and/or agendas.

This happened before the internet and mobile phones, but these new forms of communication have meant that the same groups of people (same environment with similar intersets etc) are generally much larger. Also, because the new mediums thrive on sharing of knowledge, and most importantly that it is based in a textual format that gives things a permanence, new words exist for longer when first used, and are spread faster.

Some will die out as fads, others will thrive and slowly be accepted into everday use. (as hello has outwith the context of telephone calls)

The example you cite, pwned is pretty popular and has been around for a relatively large amount of time. It's probably here to stay, although as for whether or not it trancends the internet into everday speak we will have to wait and see.

When people say pwned they aren't doing so to make a joke. They're just using something that is, for all intents and purposes, a word.
It's not a comical misspelling of owned, it is a synonym of owned, with a narrower scope in it's definition.


I can say that 'you own that ladder', and 5 years ago, I would almost definately mean that there's a climbing tool over there which belongs to you, it is a possesion of yours.

However, that is no longer the case today. It might be that this aforementioned climbing tool is not a possession of yours, but in saying 'you own that ladder' I wish to express that you have just exhibited a mastery over every one of it's rungs.

Better that I use the word pwn instead, that way there's more chance you can work out what I'm talking about. 

You REALLY need to get out more

[thetank]

ugh, I clearly just got pwned

[Rookie (Rodney)]

ugh, I clearly just got pwned

Yeah you did. DUCY?

[Geo the Sarge]

Tank, Bolty & TK

Thanks, cheered me up no end.

(I've had a miserable week)

Geo

[sovietsong]

junnnnne

[ ] i know what junnnne means.

[tikay]

Tank, Bolty & TK

Thanks, cheered me up no end.

(I've had a miserable week)

Geo

I'd like to cheer you up Geo, really, I would, but I mean, wtf is THIS colour all about?

[Grier78]

Many stories date the first use of hello (with that spelling) to around the time of the invention of the telephone in 1876. It was, however, used in print in Roughing It by Mark Twain in 1872 (written between 1870 and 1871),[2] so its first use must have predated the telephone:

So Tank might be right - especially if the bloke who invented the first telephone kept it secret for a few years - until someone else invented another one, enabling a 'phone call to take place. He might have invented the telephone before electricity was invented, so had to wait until it was, so it would work.

Tank gets the points.

The word "hello" was not invented for use with the telephone but its usage was popularised shortly after its invention when it started being used by the telephone operators, who became known as the Hello Girls. Previous to its adoption operators used to say various things like "are you ready to speak" which were quite clumsy in the context.

[thetank]

junnnnne

[ ] i know what junnnne means.

An argot of the miners, pay it no heed.