3) The Surprinsingly Simple Reason We Say 'Hello' When We Answer the Phone
It's pure instinct. When our phones ring- after checking caller ID, of course - we pick up and say, "Hello?"
But If Alexander Graham Bell had his way we would be saying "Ahoy" when using his invention.
The word "ahoy" has been around for at least 100 years longer than "Hello". It came from the Dutch word "boi," also a greeting. Bell was so certain It would catch on as the perfect phone conversation starter that he used it for the rest of his life.
Luckily, we don't have to talk like pirates every time we pick up the phone. You can thank Thomas Edison for that. He was the one who proposed "hello" as the proper greeting, to the chagrin of his rival Bell. At the time, telephones were thought of like modern walkie-talkies, where the line would stay permanently open so businesses could communicate with each other whenever they pleased. The problem was letting the one side know when the other wanted to talk. In a letter to the president of the Central District and Printing Telegraph Company in Pittsburgh, who was about to bring the telephone to that city, Edison suggested saying "Hello"! would be the best way to get someone's attention, and he was right because we keep on using It until today.
O americano Thomas Edison e o escocês Alexander Graham Bell nasceram em 1847, e cada um é lembrado até hoje por feitos diferentes. De acordo com o texto, pode-se inferir que
A. O uso da palavra "ahoy" foi abolido de conversas.
B. A popularização do telefone se deveu a Thomas Edison.
C. O escocês A. G. Bell ficou feliz com a mudança de uma palavra para outra.
D. O uso do telefone iniciou-se para que as empresas pudessem se comunicar quando quisessem.
E. O telefone veio para substituir o walkie-talkie.