overtaking-外刊精读（一）：为什么我们拿起电话时，都会说“喂”

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外刊打卡慢读音频

“Hello?” That common word begins most English-speaking telephone conversations。 But it didn’t always。 According to history, Thomas Edison started the “hello” convention。 He encouraged people to use it when answering the phone。 The telephones inventor, Alexander Graham Bell thought that “ahoy” was a better telephone greeting。 “Ahoy” is also a greeting- a nautical one。 People onboard ships call to each other by saying, “Ahoy。 That greeting never caught on, but Bell never joined the ” hello” crowd。 He continued to use “ahoy” for the rest of his life。

So why did “hello” overtake “ahoy” as the phone greeting of choice? It may have had something to do with the first phone book。 Back in 1878 when the telephone was new to everyone, phone books came with a “how to” section。 They wanted to teach proper telephone etiquette and told users to initiate their phone conversations with ” a firm and cheery hello” Soon, telephone operators were being called “hello girls”。 For years these women had the job of connecting people’s phone calls。 There were no direct calls。

「哈啰」?这个普通的字词几乎是所有英语系国家电话交谈的开头用语。不过其实并非一直如此。根据历史记载，托马斯·爱迪生开始了“哈啰”的传统。他鼓励民众接听电话时使用「哈啰」。而发明电话的亚历山大·葛拉汉·贝尔则认为「啊呵」是较佳的电话问候用语。「啊呵」同时也是航海人的问候语，船上的人会使用「啊呵」来彼此打招呼。这个问候语一直没能流行起来，而贝尔也始终不曾加入使用「哈晒」的行列。终其一生·贝尔都持续使用「啊呵」。那么，为什么「哈啰」会胜过「啊呵」成为电话问候语的选择呢?这可能跟第一本电话簿有关。一九八七年时，电话对大众而言还是一个全然陌生的新产物，因此电话簿里便有「如何使用电话」的区块。其目的在于教导大众适当的电话礼仪，以及告诉民众用「一声坚定且愉悦的哈啰」来开始对话。不久，接线生就成了「哈啰小姐」。许多年间，这些女性一直负责转接民众的电话。因为当时电话尚无直拨功能。

Americans don’t just use “hello” to answer the phone. They use it multiple times during the day and with different meanings. “Hello” can be used as an exclamation to get someone’s attention (Hello! I’m talking to you! ). Or to express surprise (Hello! What do you think you’re doing? ) ” Hello” can also call into question someone’s common sense. For example, “You’re really going to spend $5,000 on a purse? Hello!”

美国人不只使用「哈啰」作为接听电话的用语。他们一天中还会多次使用到它来传达不同的意思。「哈啰」可以作感叹词，用以吸引他人注意，如，「哈啰!我在跟你说话!」。或者用以表达惊讶之情，如，「哈啰!你知道你在做什么吗?」。「哈啰」还可以用作对他人的常识表示质疑。例如，「你真的要花五千美金买一个皮包吗?哈啰!」

While everyone around the world does not say “hello” when they answer the phone, many greetings are similar. The French say, “AllÔ,” Germans say, ” Hallo”, and Indonesians say, “Halo”. But in some countries, the telephone greeting is quite different. In Italy, people say “Pronto” or “ready” when they answer the phone. In Tamil, a language in southern India, people say ” Sollunga”, which roughly means “tell me”. Chinese people say “Wei”.

尽管并非全世界的人接电话时都会说「哈罗」。但是许多电话问候用语到是颇为相似。法国人说「AllÔ」，德国人说「Hallo」，印度尼西亚人则说「Halo」。而在某些国家，电话问候用语则极为不同。在意大利，民众接电话时会说「Pronto」，也就是「准备好了」。印度南部通行的「坦米尔语」中，人们会说「Sollunga」，大约是「告诉我」的意思，而中国人则是说「喂」。

“Hello” did catch on as a telephone greeting. But the same early phone book etiquette section also promoted “That’s all” as the way to end a conversation. It didn’t catch on. That’s all.

「哈啰」确实广为流行成为电话问候用语。但是同样那本早期电话簿的电话礼仪区块还推行了「就这样了」作为结束对话的用语。不过。却未受青睐。就这样了。

听完了外文慢速带读，同学们也不要忘记听

小飞老师给大家带来的《外刊词汇精讲》！

词汇库

convention(n.) 传统；常规

例：Saying “excuse me” when you pass in front of someone is an accepted convention.

当你在别人面前走过时说“借过”是一个公认的惯例。

greeting (n.) 问候；招呼

例：When Tom saw Sue across the room, he shouted a greeting.

当汤姆看到苏穿过房间时，他大声打招呼。

catch on (idiom) 变得流行

例：The Radio Hat never caught on as a choice for entertainment.