Do u always start by saying HELLO when u pick up the phone??
By anousha
@anousha (406)
Mauritius
August 1, 2007 12:07am CST
Or when u phone someone?
A friend of mine has just called me and before answering, I saw her number on the phone. So when I picked it up, I didn't bothered to say Hello and instead said "Yeah what's up!".
She felt rather offended and said that I should have the little politeness to say Hello when I started talking and she got confused when I didn't say that!
So now I'm wondering why are we so attached to this word and why has it become so important to say before anything else on the phone.
Can't we just say something else besides that?
Please share your thoughts!
8 people like this
29 responses
@meenrawal (61)
• India
1 Aug 07
For the new number which i dont know i start with HELLO. Otherwise i talk directly to all my friends, saying 'Ha ____ bol'.
Actually we dont have any problem we all friends talk directly. And if we say 'Hello' they reply number nahi dekha kya?
@dafnie (382)
• United States
1 Aug 07
Well 80% of the time I do say "hello" if it's just a person that I know or don't know. But if it's someone that I know very very well and we're just really cool, I'll say "wassup", "what's good", "whatdya want", "yeah", "ola!", "hey chica!', "what it do", "uh huh"..... just little retarded stuff like that. Yeah my friends are a little shocked when I do it but I think their getting used to it. It's really pointless to get stuck with "hello"... it makes it a lot more fun when we use something else!
2 people like this
@cefaz_21 (2596)
• Philippines
1 Aug 07
I only realized now after reading your post and evaluating myself on the phone that I seldom say hello first. My usual would be :good afternoon" or "good morning" or whatever the time maybe..even at home,I don't often hear myself saying hello when pickinh up cals or even when making calls.
1 person likes this
@Zelmarq (12585)
• Cebu City, Philippines
1 Aug 07
I always satrt with hello, most of the time, but at work as acustomer service officer assigned in the phonie department we say our phraseology and soemtimes when I am at home I could say the phraseology which is humiliating. Im just glad most of my callers are from the ffice and they just laugh at me.
@sandwedge (1339)
• Malaysia
2 Aug 07
do I start saying HELLO when i pick up the phone? i tried something else but it did not work very well. below is the list of greetings i tried but did not work so well.
1. greetings. take me to your leader.
2. the time now is 9:20 AM
3. SPEAK!
4. welcome to your life
5. OMG!
6. is this the little people?
7. midgets rule the universe
8. toilet plungers are not toys
9. AAARRRRGGHHH!!!
10. spank me baby! spank me
1 person likes this
@nandarocksindia (289)
• India
4 Aug 07
ya my friend 100percent i wish any one with hello only....but if this thing is i dont want do when my girl friend call me
2 people like this
@danishcanadian (28953)
• Canada
18 Aug 07
Yeah, I always say "hello" when I answer the phone, unless it's someone I recognize on call display at which point I will address them by name. This applies if I am at home. If I am woking somewhere, I will answer "hello, (company name), how may I help you?" or however I was instructed to answer.
@lyndee22 (1210)
• Philippines
1 Aug 07
In our company we have standard telephone greetings set by the management. This is to be followed by all employees for uniformity. We call it the company telphone preamble. It does not contain the word "Hello". The greeting first, then the department, last the name of the recipient. At home, I always greet the caller first followed by hello.
@jlara_gtr34 (3491)
• Philippines
1 Aug 07
hi there! ;0
hmm, when i answer the phone i always say "hello". lolz. i guess it is just a force of habit. :)
good day to you! :)
@larskie23 (866)
• Philippines
1 Aug 07
it depends on the phone that im going to answer, at home, i said "hello" at work, i should follow a protocol on answering phone calls, like, "good morning, thank you for calling..." at my cellphone, if its unknown number, i said again 'hello" when its my boyfriend and im angry at him, i said "WHY!!!' hehe when im not, i usually ask him 'where are you" right away when i answer and with friends is usually refer to their names and ask why they'd called me.
1 person likes this
@anousha (406)
• Mauritius
1 Aug 07
Yeah when ur at work u should maintain that etiquette, but when ur talking to friends and close relatives then I think its fun to innovate a bit! And another point which I'm curious asking is, y do u ask ur friends, "y they called". Can't they phone u for no reason, I mean just to ask u if ur ok and hows ur work and family going etc..? Coz many of my friends also say that and it irritates me coz then u think that u made a mistake calling 'em!
1 person likes this
@taylorblue (1286)
• Canada
18 Aug 07
If I recognize the phone number I will say something silly to them. But otherwise I just say hello.
1 person likes this
@rubygrace (646)
• Philippines
4 Aug 07
Saying hellow is my first word when we answer the phone,but sometimes when i was at my aunt house i heared when she answered their last name----Garcia's residence good afternoon, its sound great right? and even when i was working in a company us telephone operator,we always say thank you for calling(name of the company and my name)but when i was at home i say HELLO.(no more No less)
@caixia0911 (55)
• China
2 Aug 07
It depends on the person who gives me the call ,i won't say "hello" if there is my old acquaintances or my boyfriend,but if not,it's essential to be more polite.
@unisis (1673)
• Indonesia
2 Aug 07
I think it depends on the phone that i am going to answer,if I answer at home and I do not who is speaking so i said "hello" and if I know who is speaking so I say "Assalammua'alikum",and during my working time I always say hello or i should follow a protocol on answering phone calls, like, "good morning, thank you for calling,also when call at my cellphone, if its unknown number, i said again 'hello".
@babystar1 (4233)
• United States
2 Aug 07
I always say hello when I pick up the phone.
But I did play a trick on my friend one time, and when she called I seen it was her from my caller id. And I said this is the pizza hut, may I take your order. she hung up on me. But she called back and I told her it was me.
@daveisdavid (878)
• Singapore
2 Aug 07
I have different expression in saying hello depending on my mood and who the person is on the other line.
@mari_skye (1637)
• Philippines
2 Aug 07
In the office, I would always say hello first. My phone does not have a digital display so it is 'safer' to say this generic word first before saying anything else. But when I am answering my mobile phone, I think I don't have to say hello unless the caller is not in my phone book. And my friends wouldn't expect me to say hello first to them, and if I did, which is rare, they would chide me and say that it's very formal and businesslike.
@Cassy1976 (796)
• Australia
2 Aug 07
If I am at home I answer the phone with a simple hello as I dont have caller ID and I have no idea who is on the other end, but on my mobile phone if I dont know the number I just say hello cassy speaking or if I know the number I will either say hello or sometimes I will say something like whats up.... but usually I will just say hello
@ericajoyce (1746)
• Philippines
2 Aug 07
Usually when someone calls me i usually say "hello" even though i see her/his number on the phone.
