<P> By 1889, central telephone exchange operators were known as' hello - girls' because of the association between the greeting and the telephone . </P> <P> Hello may be derived from hullo, which the American Merriam - Webster dictionary describes as a "chiefly British variant of hello," and which was originally used as an exclamation to call attention, an expression of surprise, or a greeting . Hullo is found in publications as early as 1803 . The word hullo is still in use, with the meaning hello . </P> <P> Hello is alternatively thought to come from the word hallo (1840) via hollo (also holla, holloa, halloo, halloa). The definition of hollo is to shout or an exclamation originally shouted in a hunt when the quarry was spotted: </P> <P> If I fly, Marcius, / Halloo me like a hare . </P>

What is the story behind the word hello