Thread: Алло?

Hey, as I've understood this word, it's only used on the phone. But, if I were to walk in a house, and I wasn't sure if anyone was home, could I call, "Алло?" or no? What should I say if not? Thanks.

Originally Posted by kybarry

Hey, as I've understood this word, it's only used on the phone.

Yes.

Originally Posted by kybarry

But, if I were to walk in a house, and I wasn't sure if anyone was home, could I call, "Алло?" or no? What should I say if not?

"Есть кто-нибудь?"

You can say something like:

Эй, алё, тут есть кто-нибудь?

But you can say so only if it's your friend's house, it would be unpolite to say that to strangers.

Got it! Thanks.

I thought you could say алё only on the phone?

How about АУ!

Originally Posted by chaika

I thought you could say алё only on the phone?

Yes, that's right.
In the example above "алё" is used figuratively, it's something like "Hello! Earth to ...". It's quite informal, bordering on rude, while using "Hello" (Алло/Алё) on the phone is acceptable and common (a standard beginning of most of the telephone conversations).

Ага, понятно. Это как наш hellooooo!

Originally Posted by chaika

Ага, понятно. Это как наш hellooooo!

От него, собственно, и происходящее

Originally Posted by Boroda

Originally Posted by chaika

Ага, понятно. Это как наш hellooooo!

От него, собственно, и происходящее

In Russian, yes, this came from English, but English borrowed it also, from German.

Etymology

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, hello is an alteration of hallo, hollo,[3] which came from Old High German "halâ, holâ, emphatic imper[ative] of halôn, holôn to fetch, used esp[ecially] in hailing a ferryman."[4] It also connects the development of hello to the influence of an earlier form, holla, whose origin is in the French holà (roughly, 'whoa there!', from French là 'there').[5]