Howdy, partner!

What does “Hi” really mean? Discover the origin of 10 greetings

Image: Hanri Meades

If you’ve ever found yourself awkwardly wondering how to greet someone, you’re not alone. The way Americans say "hello" has evolved over the centuries, shifting from stiff, almost royal phrases to today’s casual "yo" or even an emoji. Take a look at how greetings have evolved from the bowing and tipping hats era to the casual texting most of us use today.

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An archaic greeting that was perfectly normal a couple of centuries ago, "good morrow" was used in the same sense as good morning. The word "morrow" was used as a synonym for morning.

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This expression dates back to the medieval period, when it was used as a friendly greeting. It comes from the idea of "good to meet you," with meet carrying its older sense of "fitting" or "suitable" for a given situation.

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Quite possibly the most globally recognized greeting, the handshake symbolizes trust and equality. In Ancient Greece, it was used to show that neither person was armed.

Today, handshakes are ubiquitous in professional and diplomatic settings around the world, with small cultural variations in their execution.

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An old equivalent of "What’s up?", this expression is now encountered more often in P. G. Wodehouse novels than in everyday life. Cheerful and slightly old-fashioned, "What ho!" was a common greeting in the early 20th century.

Image: Alicia Christin Gerald

A solemn greeting mostly used in East Asian cultures, bowing is especially significant in Japan, Korea, and parts of China. It signifies humility and respect. In Japan, a lower bow indicates a higher level of respect, while a quick nod is more casual​.

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This curious phrase may derive either from the nautical sense of trick ("a turn at duty") or from the card game term trick. Once considered a rough or rustic expression—more suited to sailors and common folk—it simply meant "How are you doing?"

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An air kiss is a greeting where cheeks touch lightly, but lips do not. It is common in many parts of Europe and Latin America. In France, the number of kisses varies by region, with anywhere from two to four being customary, while in Spain and Italy, two is the norm.

Image: Taylor Brandon

What sounds like a cowboy greeting to many of us is, in fact, a portmanteau—a word formed by combining and shortening other words. In this case, it comes from "How Do You Do." The expression is meant to inquire about someone’s health.

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One of the most common greetings in the English language, "hello," has been in use since the early 1800s.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, it is a variation of "hallo," which originates from the Old High German term halâ, originally used to hail a ferryman.

Image: Kristina Paparo

Although more associated with modern times, this greeting has been in use since the mid-1800s. It was originally used to attract attention, rather than to greet someone, but it eventually acquired the meaning used today.

Do we miss them?

These letters were left out of the English alphabet, and here's why

Image: Ksenia Makagonova

Some letters and symbols were once part of the English alphabet or its ancestors. But time and lack of use eventually made them be dropped, replaced, or forgotten. Most of them come from Old English, Middle English, Latin, or early printing traditions, and their stories are full of phonetic shifts, shortcuts, and the drive toward standardization. Let’s look at them!

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Thorn was used to represent the "th" sound in words like thin or this. It visually resembled a modern P, which often causes confusion when seen in old manuscripts.

Common in Old English, it eventually got phased out during the Middle English period, replaced by the two-letter combination th. Thorn survives today in modern Icelandic, though!

Image: James Barnett

Eth was another letter used to represent the "th" sound, particularly the voiced version. It looked a bit like a crossed D and appeared alongside thorn in Old English texts.

Over time, English speakers settled on using "th" for both the voiced and voiceless sounds, and eth gradually fell out of use. Like thorn, eth still exists in modern Icelandic.

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Wynn was used to represent the "w" sound in Old English—a sound that Latin lacked a letter for. It resembled a capital "P," though it had no connection to that sound.

Instead of writing two "u"s (as in "uu"), scribes used wynn. Over time, however, "uu" evolved into the modern "w," and wynn was phased out during the Middle English period.

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Yogh had a rather confusing role. It could represent several sounds: a throaty "gh" like in "night," a "y" as in "yes," or even a soft "g" like in "genre," depending on context and region. It looked like the number 3 and was used heavily in Middle English.

As spelling and pronunciation evolved, these sounds were either lost or spelled differently (gh, y, j, or g).

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Ash is a fusion of "a" and "e," borrowed from Latin and used in Old English words like æthel (noble). It represented a distinct vowel sound, somewhere between "a" and "e," like the short "a" in cat.

In early English texts, it was treated as a letter in its own right. Over time, as English spelling standardized, ash was replaced by "a" or "e" depending on pronunciation.

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Think of Ethel as a relative of ash. This ligature combines "o" and "e" and shows up in Latin borrowings like fœtus, œuvre, and œconomy. As spelling was standardized, it got the axe in favor of plain old "oe" or even just "e."

You’ll still spot it in French and in stylized English writing.

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This curious mark, which resembles a 7, means "and." Created by Cicero’s secretary Tiro in ancient Rome, it became a popular shorthand used by monks and scribes throughout the medieval world, including in Old English.

In Ireland, it persisted longer than almost anywhere else, until the more elegant ampersand (&) eventually took its place.

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Well, we know this one! But as a symbol, not as a letter from the alphabet. Once upon a time, schoolchildren recited it after "Z": X, Y, Z, and "per se and," which eventually morphed into the word "ampersand."

The symbol itself is a ligature of the Latin word et, meaning "and."

Image: Mark Rasmuson

This one looked like a medieval mashup of a "g" and a "z," and was mostly found in Irish and Old English manuscripts.

It served the same purpose as today’s "g." It stuck around until the Carolingian script took over, giving us the more familiar "g" we know today.

Image: Ot van Lieshout

At first glance, the Long S (ſ) looks like a stretched-out "f" missing its crossbar, but it’s an "s" in disguise. This character was used at the start and middle of words (e.g., ſunshine, bleſſing), but never at the end.

The character was ubiquitous in English printing until the late 1700s, when it was gradually replaced by the modern "s."

Image: Aaron Burden

The letter itself sounded like the "ng" at the end of "fang" or "sing."

The letter resembles an "n" with a tail and remains in use today in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) and in languages such as Sami and Māori. However, English spelling never officially adopted it.