[ANON POST] Greetings in English other than Hello, Good Day, etc.

[orange_fell]

Research: History of hello (and related cognates), salutations, greetings, historical meeting protocol, history of hail/ave/ahoy, etc. I have found a great deal on why we currently use hello, but not what was used previously as a greeting beyond good day/morning/evening/afternoon

Comments

[dragonbat2006]

I'd think "I greet thee" would be one. Or "God's blessing upon ye."

[reapermum]

Off topic, but is there any reason why you spell "thee" out in full in the first greeting and abbreviate it in the second?

[dragonbat2006]

Not really. I was thinking back to historical fiction I've read and phrases I've heard the characters say.

[reapermum]

Fair enough.

[world_dancer]

Hail.

Good day (if there's a day/night difference).

Something unique to your world based on its cosmology.

[world_dancer]

You know, there may not be a greeting saying. If it never grows dark, there may simply be a greeting gesture, leaving your character at a bit of a loss.

[vanillafluffy]

How do you do?

[3rdragon]

Actually, traditionally, "How do you do" was not a question.

No Nice Girl Swears, originally published in 1933, states quite clearly that it is not a question, and that the correct response is "How do you do."

(For the curious, the author, Alice-Leone Moats, disapproved of responding "Pleased to meet you," which she considered rude.)

[lindenharp]

'Peace' or 'Peace unto you'?

[samtyr]

"Good morrow" or "God ye good morrow" would work. They might also say 'bon jour' if both are English and one of them wants to be snarky. (Both of these greetings occur in 'Romeo and Juliet'; Act 2 Scene 4). Check out some of Shakespeare's other plays as well.

http :// www. william-shakespeare .info/ william-shakespeare- dictionary. htm