Hello? Hello?

As the world knows, Freiherr Adolph Franz Friedrich Ludwig Knigge wrote his guide to appropriate behaviour, Über den Umgang mit Menschen, in 1788. But here's a tricky trio of questions: What's the name of the American equivalent, when was it published, and who wrote it?

Answers: Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics, and at Home, 1922 and Emily Post.

One of the most fascinating things about Emily Post is that she fought long and hard to keep the word "hello" out of what she called "proper speech". Ninety years ago, she wrote:

"On very informal occasions, it is the present fashion to greet an intimate friend with 'Hello!' This seemingly vulgar salutation is made acceptable by the tone in which it is said. To shout 'Hullow!' is vulgar, but 'Hello, Mary' or 'How 'do, John', each spoken in an ordinary tone of voice, sound much the same. But remember that the 'Hello' is spoken, not called out, and never used except between intimate friends who call each other by the first name."

Post, who died in 1960, would have been horrified at the global march of "hello". According to the Omniglot website, which is a guide to the writing systems and languages of the world, there isn't an equivalent for "hello" in all languages, but many do have something similar.

Technology, in the shape of the telephone, made "hello" popular in the English-speaking world, and technology, in the shape of the telephone, might yet see "Hello!" being replaced by something like "Hi!", "G'day!", "Howdy!" or "Whassup?" But maybe "hello" is here to stay. Even the Urban Dictionary, which is hip and cool, says that "'Hello' is what you always say when you answer the phone."