"Hello there"

[ImJustMadAboutSaffron]

This annoys me and also doesn't make sense. Hello where? What's wrong with just hello?

A smug individual I had dealings with some years ago used this with me and I'm sure it was meant to make him seem superior and be condescending.

I can be a pedant at times but I don't see anything wrong with that, it's a friendly greeting, why would it make anyone sound superior? It's normal everyday speech isn't it?

Wow! I’m a pedant at times too but this wouldn’t even cause a flicker on my radar.

It may just have been someone channelling their inner Obi-Wan Kenobi.

I don't think anyone has ever said that to me. You are right.

Hi there

The main character in Beverley Cleary’s “Fifteen” took umbrage at Marcy (who she was a bit envious of because of her lovely cashmere sweaters) always saying “hello there” to her. She found it condescending but it was her own sense of inadequacy at play.

As I recall. It’s like 40 years since I read it.

I agree, I also hate the expression 'All right (with or without 'there'). I work in a small shop and always greet customers with 'Good morning', 'Good afternoon' or 'Hello' but many people seem incapable of a friendly greeting .

@QuietNeighbour ooh I loved that book. I was a pre-teen in the 60s and read it over and over but not quite understanding words like 'dirndl', 'foghorn' etc! Jane was so grown up to me and I fondly imagined dating was like that and I would meet my own Stan fairly shortly. 🤣 I thought 'Hello there' was cool in the book. I'm always saying it, perhaps I've been channelling Marcy all this time!

It's from star wars loads of people say it now

You think Star Wars invented people saying hello there? 😂😂

OP, the issue is not with the phrase but with what you are making it mean.

Look into 'reframing'.

Oooh I can actually weigh in on the why of this phrase.

Hello didn't come into use as a greeting until after the invention of the telephone, prior to that it was an expression of surprise: "hello, what do we have here?"

The "there" comes from a completely literal place of saying "hello" to someone over there. From way back when hello as a greeting and hello as an expression of surprise were more interchangeable, picture two country gents walking their dogs and hailing one another from several metres away, "Hello there, Charles!" it was literally "Hello you over there, I am greeting you!".

It evolved into a more a light hearted version of hello, more "chipper" and less formal, and more obviously a greeting than expression of surprise. Generally speaking it's taken to be more friendly than just plain old "hello", but I can see that sometimes it can sound condescending (hear it in "Sharon Osbourne speaking to her dogs" voice and suddenly it's less friendly more insulting!)

Then many years later Star Wars happened, and now if you don't respond to "Hello there!" with a raspy "General Kenobi" you're doing it wrong.

Ah, but you don't know the individual in question! (And trust me, you are blessed not to!)

Veridical - thank you for that explanation, and it bought back fond memories of my DF who was very well spoken & eloquent and used 'Hello' (as in surprise) quite frequently ... tbh I had completely forgotten but it is a lovely memory.

I love trying to understand the meaning of words ... my DS was described as 'loquacious' on one school report, had to look it up - 'talks too much' . Sorry, going off topic now.

So in fact nothing to do with the phrase itself? 😀

Yes, the two are not mutually exclusive. I hate the phrase. I hate it even more since this person insisted on it.

That's exactly my point! It's not the phrase but the meaning attached to it because of how you feel about this person.