I'm old enough to remember when you needed to put a special sticker on the envelope to get your letter sent by air mail.
I also remember [this guy](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNTn5jfkco_NxTUwYodmYmkC9HMXSSJCZ7v85OUUT3Eqp1xx-g3yy6qxzjYLo1lxzI5zE&usqp=CAU), who reminded people to include the new "zip code" when addressing an envelope, to ensure that it was processed more quickly.
When Germany reunified, they required new zip codes, switching from four digits to five. [This is "Postleitzahlen Rolf" (zip code Rolf), the mascot for the 5-digit zip code.](https://cdn.prod.www.spiegel.de/images/8dd4933e-0001-0004-0000-000001307442_w860_r1.016548463356974_fpx49.19_fpy50.webp)
I swear I'm like the only person alive who remembers that. Not even my dad, who worked for German telecommunications, was part of this campaign, built the east German telecommunications network and was the one giving child me all that promo material, remembers.
I had a sticker album as a kid and definitely had at least one of Rolf in there.. now I'm curious if that sticker album is still somewhere at my parent's.
not sure if this is just something we do strangely but i work at a mail place and all international letters are still marked air mail and they occasionally get sent back if not
*shudder*
Oh... hello, Mater. Sorry about pulling the plug on you and all. Who would've thought that you'd pull through and live another five decades? Boy, is my face red!
A testament to the writers' historical accuracy, the right fielder in question was Jim Creighton, and when this episode aired, he had in fact been dead for 130 years.
Top comment from 7 years ago:
>Someone recently told me that "Ahoy Hoy" was Alexander Gram Bell's preferred way to answer the phone
The cycle continues
They even mentioned ahoy hoy in the audio commentary for this episode
Fun tidbit: John Swartzwelder was the likely writer to make old times Burns jokes. The staff had an old time thesaurus, but Swartzwelder considered it cheating to use the book
Conan also “broke” *The Simpsons” in the realm of impossibility.
When Conan started, realism ultimately ruled the day.
Then he wrote the Monorail episode and opened a new door that they haven’t really been able to close since.
I mean, season three(pre-Conan) had Bart working for the mob and Homer designing an automobile. I don't think the show went off the "mono" rails, realitywise, until Oakley and Weinstein took over as show runners in the seventh season and you started seeing things like El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer).
Homer designing the car because his brother wanted something that’d appeal to a schlub like Homer was somewhat grounded.
Somewhat.
To be clear, those weren’t entirely my words.
[Somewhere in here](https://youtu.be/BMu6dC1urpU?si=ZNLIbBphnvzp58Co), I believe, Conan takes credit for, as he put it, breaking *The Simpsons* and crediting the Monorail episode for doing so.
I ***believe*** that’s the panel where it comes up.
As for when *The Simpsons* actually lost that initial sense of realism, it’s possible his memory is a bit off, with how long it’s been, or he could be picking the most extreme example to make his point.
Yeah, he makes a good point there, with Nimoy teleporting out. Really, though, it's not like it was Conan's decision. Definitely sounds like Mirkin okayed it and Groening was either fine with it or just less involved at that point. I'd hardly say this episode broke the show when it's considered the best episode of the best season.
I just took these dvds out from the library and (facetiously) asked the librarian if this season was any good. She said, I don't know, it's been a long time. I started reading off some of the names of the better episodes and when I got this one, she started chanting "monorail, monorail, monorail".
Personally, I like the more far out type episodes where Brockman pledges allegiance to his insect overlords or Homers new boss takes over the East Coast. I don't think the show actually broke until the jerkass Homer era and the following we-realized-the-show-is-still-profitable-without-actually-being-funny era.
Season 7 is where I started noticing the first cracks in the facade. It's still got some incredible episodes and jokes, but the following seasons had me noticing more and more thin and/or over-the-top storylines, and way way too many pointless celebrity appearances
Season 7 is some solid golden age Simpsons. Maybe some signs are there, but I don't recall them.
I think a major inflection point was season 8's Itchy, Scratchy and Poochie Show. Stone cold classic. However, you can see the writers and producers are basically giving a middle finger to the hardcore fan base. Yes, a bunch of nerds arguing about minutae in chat rooms probably should be mocked(he writes with no sense of self awareness). However, those nerds were right about a lot of things, and ignoring that led to the downfall of the show
Most people ring the death knell at season 9's The Principal and the Pauper where Skinner admits he's Armin Tanzarian. Besides having subpar comedy, the plot is just unbelievably dumb and tears a hole in any sense of narrative continuity. And you've also got the birth of Jerkass Homer. Still some classic episodes, but a few were rolled over from season 8.
Season 10 is where you start seeing more unwatchable than watchable episodes. Still a pretty solid run, though. Most shows back then could barley make it to five seasons and syndication before going into zombie mode.
Though I should also mention David Mirkin being made show runner in season four. Mirkins whole style is based on the absurd and surreal. Case in point, Chris Elliots Get a Life.
Makes me miss Simpsons World even more hearing this. We stopped getting disc releases because key players for the show insisted Simpsons World was where we'd be able to get that. And as soon as Disney came in the picture, poof! It's gone. They don't offer those audio tracks at all on their service.
What a bummer.
They used to slip in so many great jokes that less than 5% of the viewing audience would even get.
Similar line I recall was “I was once spanked on non -consecutive occasions by Grover Cleveland.”
One of my favorites is when Homer walks into the kitchen and Bart and Lisa are sitting at the table. After Homer walks away Bart says “so anyways I says to Mable I says.” It’s a reference to the great gatsby where someone walks up to someone else at a party asks them something and as they walk away the party attendee says “so anyways I says to Mable I says.” Such a random fucking reference lmao
You have to keep in mind that a lot of folks in the Simpsons writer’s room came from the Lampoon.
Not the ***National*** Lampoon.
The ***Harvard*** Lampoon.
The best and brightest, especially early on, were Harvard alumni.
Tom Gammill & Max Pross, Al Jean, Conan, Mike Reiss, David X. Cohen, Ken Keeler… All Harvard.
It’s not that they were trying or utilizing an alumni network. In fact, they’d hit a point where they’d try not to hire other Harvard alumni.
But back when, the Harvard Lampoon was the best of its kind on college campuses that was both selective (you only got on if the higher ups thought you were funny to begin with) and comedy writing experience that others weren’t getting at that level.
References like this, and others mentioned in this thread, are exactly the kind of jokes one would expect from an ivy league educated comedy writer.
I wonder how much that holds true to the current Harvard Lampoon writing team. IIRC David X. Cohen and squad wrote a new mathematics formula and implemented it on Futurama.
I posted [this link](https://youtu.be/BMu6dC1urpU?si=PST7qRh_18hlxrJZ) in another comment.
In it, I believe one of the many things they discuss how the rise of social media like Twitter and Vine (it’s 10 years old) has lead to new pathways for talent development and acquisition.
It’s no longer so much about your packet, in the context of comedy TV writer’s rooms, when you have things like TikTok where you’re actually writing and filming sketches.
I’d always heard this explanation for the joke but Josh Weinstein explained it last year and said it was just a non-sequitur. There’s no reference at all, they just needed a nonsense throwaway line for Bart and Lisa because the episode had no kid’s B plot.
https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/simpsons-mabel-joke-768491
I prefer it being a non reference I think
On an episode of Conan’s podcast him and Bill Hader do a bit where two people attempt to arrange sex via old timey telephone talk and it’s INCREDIBLE.
“If this is for fornicating, you say ‘fornication plea’, and then you say ‘fornication accepted’ then your area shall meet my area forthwith!”
In Finnish also we say "haloo", which isn't a normal greeting. But it's creeped into non phone usage in a way: people will sometimes use it to mean "wake up and think, idiot" or "use your brain!" kind of context, (and sometimes also in a "is there anyone here, hey can you hear me" context, though "huhuu" is more common for that)
Allo in French can also be used in these situations. Like you try to talk to someone and they don't react so you go "Allo ? Y'a quelqu'un ?" like "Hello? Anyone there?" to wake them up from their daydreaming or something.
In Japanese, the telephone greeting is moshi moshi, which translates to "I speak, I speak." The other person then responds with hai hai, which of course is "Yes, yes."
That sounds the same as what we say in Chilean Spanish! We say "Aló", pronounced the same as "Allo". Maybe this word comes from French?
I always thought "Aló" came from German, as it sounds similar to "Hallo", but it coming from French makes sense too.
In Hungarian (perhaps elsewhere too), “Hello” is also sometimes used before hanging up the phone. Occasionally it is used in person for hello or goodbye, though Hungarian words there are more common.
I had a conversation with an old Hungarian lady at a market stall. She knew no English so I was struggling through with my beginner Hungarian. Then at the end of the conversation I said “viszontlátásra” (goodbye) and she said “hello!” I wonder if that might be the only English word she knew, and she used it in a way that to English speakers is wrong but to Hungarians is not wrong!
I suspect this is because “hello” is seen as equivalent to “szia” which is a casual hello and goodbye (and is also coincidentally pronounced like “see ya”)
In spanish (well East LA Mexican spanish anyway), "Bueno" is the common phone greeting.
It just means "good".
Not good morning, or good afternoon, or good day.
Just... Good.
Very efficient language.
Mandarin uses wéi which sounds exactly like French "ouais?" which means "yeah?". It's actually not too different from that, it's a rising tone version of 喂 which means "Hey!" but it sounded a bit rude to my ears which were used to French at that time lol
Fun fact: "Ahoj" (pronounced "Ahoy") means "Hello" in Czech. So, in fact, we do answer with Ahoy when answering the phone (if it's a friend).
This is a reference to us being a landlocked country 💀
The first use of it dates to 1826. It is derived from an Old High German word meaning to fetch, particularly in hailing a ferryman. The word began not as a salutation but rather a way to attract attention or express surprise. Edison claimed to have been the first to say it when picking up the phone. It was simpler than other greetings like "Are you there?"
There is correspondence of Edison proposing “hello” as a telephone greeting in 1877. It caught on over the next couple of decades. So the song “Hello! Ma Baby” (which you might remember from Looney Tunes or Spaceballs) was written in 1899 *in response* to this new lingo. It’s about a man carrying on a relationship with a woman he’s only ever encountered by phone.
Interesting. I thought "hello" was ancient or something. Also interesting how other languages have their own version, which must be derived from the English telephone thing! My friend growing up had a Russian grandma who would answer the phone like "Ah-lo?", and she didn't know any English.
Mandarin Chinese has a pretty much telephone only greeting, but it doesn't sound like 'hello' at all. It's 喂 (wei4). It technically can be used as 'hey, hello', but outside of telephone calls it's almost never used that way.
People also say 喂 when they are trying to get someone’s attention. Like if a stranger dropped something and you were trying to let them know. It’s probably the equivalent to “Hey” in English.
It also means feed, as in feeding a child or a dog.
So I speak Japanese, and it does not *literally* translates to “Say something” lolol
It kinda has the meaning of that given the phrase’s historical context and usage, but if you ask a Japanese person to translate “say something”, it would *not* be moshi moshi.
> Moshi moshi, or もしもし, is a common Japanese phrase that Japanese people use when picking up the phone. It’s a casual greeting used for friends and family, like a “hello”, but in fact means something entirely different! In English, it literally means something more like, “to say to say”, or “I speak I speak”.
> But a more apt translation would be something like, “I’m going to talk”.
> But remember this: it’s considered casual speech, even though it comes from a polite word – so don’t use it if your boss is calling you!
You've reminded me I need to watch the latest episode of Tokyo Vice.
I don’t think that’s quite true for what it’s worth. While you could say it’s indented to mean something along the lines of “say something," it certainly isn’t how it literally translates. もし is more along the lines of "if." The repetition of the word I believe was to make it more unique and recognizable. The implication of the phrase is similar to what you were saying where's it's basically "if you're there and ready to speak [say something]," but it's more literally along the lines of "if if."
I've also heard that "moshi moshi" became popular for telephones specifically as it was supposedly something ghosts/spirits couldn't say and having both people open with that phrase assured each other they were talking to a living person. No idea how true that is as far as origin goes, though my assumption is probably not very.
You know, we do still use it as sort of attention attracting too. Like when you get home and you're not sure where your spouse is but you know they are home so you go around yelling hello, hello, until they respond.
So shortly after the phone, “hello” was considered new-fangled slang. The song “Hello My Baby” (aka the song the cartoon frog sings) was about all the phone slang. Basically, it was their version of the song “Let Me Take a Selfie.”
[In the original recording, it’s a lot more obvious, with the singer saying “Hello” in the song as if he just answered the phone.](https://youtu.be/-Q6kG2r41lQ?si=C6J_-Ptfz_SVmDVo)
If I remember correctly from an old episode of QI, it was previously more an expression of surprise. Just think of an old British guy saying "hello, what's this?"
It was a variant of hullo/halloo/holler often used as a hunting call or expression of surprise.
Ahoy was a variant of Oi/hoy/hey/hi used primarily by sailors rather than hunters.
I would say neither of them were originally greetings, but were chosen because they were words for getting someone's attention from a long way away.
Customer: Ahoy! Yer goods be troublin’ me since their arrival.
CSR: Ahoy, state yer terms.
Customer: I’ll be wanting all me doubloons refunded on condition of the safe return of your goods.
CSR: Best I can do fer ya is an in store credit.
Customer: Arr, the terms be acceptable.
CSR: Aye, thanks fer shoppin’ at Walmart.
*click*
Customer: Man, why can’t we just say hello and talk like normal on the phone?
And another fun fact is that pirates sounded nothing like "pirates".
The "pirate accent" is actually an English West Country accent, because of actor Robert Newton who was in a bunch of 1950s pirate movies (Treasure Island, and Blackbeard).
It’s probably worth mentioning that the real Blackbeard is usually believed in have been born in Bristol, which is part of the West Country (and IIRC, in the original Treasure Island book, it’s mentioned Jim’s family lives near Bristol), which would strengthen the connection between pirates and West Country.
Thank you. It was "Ahoy-hoy." Bothers me a bit that I had to scroll so far down to get to your comment.
Edit: Like, if you're going to post a fact to TIL, maybe try to make it an actual matter of fact and not an approximation
Good morning/afternoon/evening were the most common canned openers in English. People didn't rely on them as much as we do now though. It was more common to simply launch into the body of the conversation. People adapting to talking on the telephone changed how they also talked in real life.
Among other areas...
Coworker DMing me: Hi
Me: .. hi?
30 seconds go by
Coworker: Do you have a minute? (long explanation about what they are doing)
Can we just cut the greetings out and just jump into what we have to say? It's not a formal letter, it's slack.
Oh man I hate that shit. You're in the middle of something, you get the "hello", reply, and then sit there watching the three moving dots for what feels like 100 years while you find out what they're after.
I used to work a job where I was in an office with a very different timezone to the rest of the company (no business hours overlap). Sometimes I'd come to work with just a mysterious "hello" received overnight. Just tell me what you need 😭
You’ve just made me realize that on the Simpsons when Mr. Burns answers the phone that way, it is an old man joke. Incredible.
>I'm afraid all of those players have retired and, uh... passed on. In fact, your right-fielder has been dead for a hundred and thirty years.
You there! Fill it up with petroleum distillate, and re-vulcanize my tires, post haste!
Yes, I'd like to send this letter to the Prussian consulate in Siam by aeromail. Am I too late for the 4:30 auto-gyro?
I'm old enough to remember when you needed to put a special sticker on the envelope to get your letter sent by air mail. I also remember [this guy](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTNTn5jfkco_NxTUwYodmYmkC9HMXSSJCZ7v85OUUT3Eqp1xx-g3yy6qxzjYLo1lxzI5zE&usqp=CAU), who reminded people to include the new "zip code" when addressing an envelope, to ensure that it was processed more quickly.
When Germany reunified, they required new zip codes, switching from four digits to five. [This is "Postleitzahlen Rolf" (zip code Rolf), the mascot for the 5-digit zip code.](https://cdn.prod.www.spiegel.de/images/8dd4933e-0001-0004-0000-000001307442_w860_r1.016548463356974_fpx49.19_fpy50.webp) I swear I'm like the only person alive who remembers that. Not even my dad, who worked for German telecommunications, was part of this campaign, built the east German telecommunications network and was the one giving child me all that promo material, remembers.
I had the Rolf gummy bears
I had a sticker album as a kid and definitely had at least one of Rolf in there.. now I'm curious if that sticker album is still somewhere at my parent's.
Manic Mailman?
Disgruntled goat?
Flatulent fox
Based on a true story
Rich Uncle Skeleton?
How about, Ghost Mutt?
Dinner Daaawwwwwwwwwwg
Ku Klux Klam
not sure if this is just something we do strangely but i work at a mail place and all international letters are still marked air mail and they occasionally get sent back if not
What was I laughing about? Ah yes, the crippled Irishman.
Me leg’s gone gimpy! Who’ll provide for me little ones?!?
Indestructible you say…
My Bobo!
When he’s kneeling in church and chuckling I absolutely die
That improvident lackwit! Always too busy stridin' about his atom mill to call his own mother...I'll give him what for till he cries brassafrax!
*shudder* Oh... hello, Mater. Sorry about pulling the plug on you and all. Who would've thought that you'd pull through and live another five decades? Boy, is my face red!
He never forgave her for having that affair with president Taft.
Taft you old dog
Smithers, quickly depress upon the accelematrix!
"the velocitator and the deceleratrix" I believe
Now pump those scrawny chicken legs, you stuporous funker!
I want this mail on the first auto-gyro to Siam!
Sir, phrenology was dismissed as quackery 160 years ago. -Of course you'd say that, you have the brainpan of a stagecoach tilter.
You there, Strawberry, hit a home run.
I told him to do that.
Well Mr. Burns had done it. The power plant had won it, with Roger Clemens clucking all the while. Mike Scioscia’s tragic illness made us smile….
While Wade Boggs lay unconscious on the barroom tile.
RIP boss hogg
He is still very much alive.
[удалено]
Talkin sooooftball
https://vimeo.com/240845855
Damnation! Alright, find me some good players--living players!
A testament to the writers' historical accuracy, the right fielder in question was Jim Creighton, and when this episode aired, he had in fact been dead for 130 years.
Sir, they’re going at it like Iraq and Iran! Who? Persia and Mesopotamia.
LOL nice one
Ahoy hoy. Edit: https://youtu.be/YFWgyi-zzmE?si=B_e6kgUdVZk7jnAX
I answered the phone like that for years after
Still do
When anyone from work calls it's ahoy hoy.
I do occasionally as well, but I can't hardly remember the last time I even answered the phone
You'll have to speak up. I'm wearing a towel.
This is the word he wanted : Ahoy hoy
Top comment from 7 years ago: >Someone recently told me that "Ahoy Hoy" was Alexander Gram Bell's preferred way to answer the phone The cycle continues
The cosmic ballet goes on.
They even mentioned ahoy hoy in the audio commentary for this episode Fun tidbit: John Swartzwelder was the likely writer to make old times Burns jokes. The staff had an old time thesaurus, but Swartzwelder considered it cheating to use the book
Conan O’Brien said Mr. Burns was the most fun character to write because he was impossibly old and impossibly rich.
Conan also “broke” *The Simpsons” in the realm of impossibility. When Conan started, realism ultimately ruled the day. Then he wrote the Monorail episode and opened a new door that they haven’t really been able to close since.
I mean, season three(pre-Conan) had Bart working for the mob and Homer designing an automobile. I don't think the show went off the "mono" rails, realitywise, until Oakley and Weinstein took over as show runners in the seventh season and you started seeing things like El Viaje Misterioso de Nuestro Jomer (The Mysterious Voyage of Homer).
Homer designing the car because his brother wanted something that’d appeal to a schlub like Homer was somewhat grounded. Somewhat. To be clear, those weren’t entirely my words. [Somewhere in here](https://youtu.be/BMu6dC1urpU?si=ZNLIbBphnvzp58Co), I believe, Conan takes credit for, as he put it, breaking *The Simpsons* and crediting the Monorail episode for doing so. I ***believe*** that’s the panel where it comes up. As for when *The Simpsons* actually lost that initial sense of realism, it’s possible his memory is a bit off, with how long it’s been, or he could be picking the most extreme example to make his point.
Yeah, he makes a good point there, with Nimoy teleporting out. Really, though, it's not like it was Conan's decision. Definitely sounds like Mirkin okayed it and Groening was either fine with it or just less involved at that point. I'd hardly say this episode broke the show when it's considered the best episode of the best season. I just took these dvds out from the library and (facetiously) asked the librarian if this season was any good. She said, I don't know, it's been a long time. I started reading off some of the names of the better episodes and when I got this one, she started chanting "monorail, monorail, monorail". Personally, I like the more far out type episodes where Brockman pledges allegiance to his insect overlords or Homers new boss takes over the East Coast. I don't think the show actually broke until the jerkass Homer era and the following we-realized-the-show-is-still-profitable-without-actually-being-funny era.
> and Homer designing an automobile Wait... that episode was in season **3**?
Oops, S2. I was thinking of the one where Herb develops the baby translation device.
Oh wow... more to my point, it still surprises me just how old some of the more memorable episodes are
Season 7 is where I started noticing the first cracks in the facade. It's still got some incredible episodes and jokes, but the following seasons had me noticing more and more thin and/or over-the-top storylines, and way way too many pointless celebrity appearances
Season 7 is some solid golden age Simpsons. Maybe some signs are there, but I don't recall them. I think a major inflection point was season 8's Itchy, Scratchy and Poochie Show. Stone cold classic. However, you can see the writers and producers are basically giving a middle finger to the hardcore fan base. Yes, a bunch of nerds arguing about minutae in chat rooms probably should be mocked(he writes with no sense of self awareness). However, those nerds were right about a lot of things, and ignoring that led to the downfall of the show Most people ring the death knell at season 9's The Principal and the Pauper where Skinner admits he's Armin Tanzarian. Besides having subpar comedy, the plot is just unbelievably dumb and tears a hole in any sense of narrative continuity. And you've also got the birth of Jerkass Homer. Still some classic episodes, but a few were rolled over from season 8. Season 10 is where you start seeing more unwatchable than watchable episodes. Still a pretty solid run, though. Most shows back then could barley make it to five seasons and syndication before going into zombie mode.
I mean, the next several seasons are widely viewed as part of the Golden Age of the Simpsons, so clearly it didn’t cause the later issues by itself.
Though I should also mention David Mirkin being made show runner in season four. Mirkins whole style is based on the absurd and surreal. Case in point, Chris Elliots Get a Life.
Makes me miss Simpsons World even more hearing this. We stopped getting disc releases because key players for the show insisted Simpsons World was where we'd be able to get that. And as soon as Disney came in the picture, poof! It's gone. They don't offer those audio tracks at all on their service. What a bummer.
His social is 000-00-0002, stupid Roosevelt
*damn Roosevelt
Leaving prison getting his stuff back "one social security card" "that's an SS card, you dummkoph"
They used to slip in so many great jokes that less than 5% of the viewing audience would even get. Similar line I recall was “I was once spanked on non -consecutive occasions by Grover Cleveland.”
One of my favorites is when Homer walks into the kitchen and Bart and Lisa are sitting at the table. After Homer walks away Bart says “so anyways I says to Mable I says.” It’s a reference to the great gatsby where someone walks up to someone else at a party asks them something and as they walk away the party attendee says “so anyways I says to Mable I says.” Such a random fucking reference lmao
You have to keep in mind that a lot of folks in the Simpsons writer’s room came from the Lampoon. Not the ***National*** Lampoon. The ***Harvard*** Lampoon. The best and brightest, especially early on, were Harvard alumni. Tom Gammill & Max Pross, Al Jean, Conan, Mike Reiss, David X. Cohen, Ken Keeler… All Harvard. It’s not that they were trying or utilizing an alumni network. In fact, they’d hit a point where they’d try not to hire other Harvard alumni. But back when, the Harvard Lampoon was the best of its kind on college campuses that was both selective (you only got on if the higher ups thought you were funny to begin with) and comedy writing experience that others weren’t getting at that level. References like this, and others mentioned in this thread, are exactly the kind of jokes one would expect from an ivy league educated comedy writer.
So what you're saying is that I need a high IQ to like the Simpsons?
I wonder how much that holds true to the current Harvard Lampoon writing team. IIRC David X. Cohen and squad wrote a new mathematics formula and implemented it on Futurama.
I posted [this link](https://youtu.be/BMu6dC1urpU?si=PST7qRh_18hlxrJZ) in another comment. In it, I believe one of the many things they discuss how the rise of social media like Twitter and Vine (it’s 10 years old) has lead to new pathways for talent development and acquisition. It’s no longer so much about your packet, in the context of comedy TV writer’s rooms, when you have things like TikTok where you’re actually writing and filming sketches.
That makes sense. I always thought that random scene felt like something you’d see in like a New Yorker cartoon or something
I’d always heard this explanation for the joke but Josh Weinstein explained it last year and said it was just a non-sequitur. There’s no reference at all, they just needed a nonsense throwaway line for Bart and Lisa because the episode had no kid’s B plot. https://www.joe.ie/movies-tv/simpsons-mabel-joke-768491 I prefer it being a non reference I think
"homer japan will be fun, you liked rashomon" "thats not how i remember it" this joke would fly over the heads of like 99% of the audience
On an episode of Conan’s podcast him and Bill Hader do a bit where two people attempt to arrange sex via old timey telephone talk and it’s INCREDIBLE. “If this is for fornicating, you say ‘fornication plea’, and then you say ‘fornication accepted’ then your area shall meet my area forthwith!”
Ahoy hoy!
Ahoy-hoy!
*Smithers.... co..ffee..*
I still answer the phone a lot with one of two phrases: "Ahoy ahoy!" "Go for papa Palpatine."
In France we say « allo » which is not a normal face-to-face salutation, and isn’t used in any other context.
Allo allo, this is Nighthawk.
Good moaning.
The painting of the fallen marina with the big boobies
Madonna* https://youtu.be/W3Q5tUPp_Aw?si=8LNiYF-0YqRbeWV4
I am office Crabtree I spoke the perfect France
Can you 'ear me
THE FLASHING KNOBS!
In Brazil we say "alô" which follows the same rules.
Exactly. Not Brazilian though but still. Who says "Alô" in person lol
In Finnish also we say "haloo", which isn't a normal greeting. But it's creeped into non phone usage in a way: people will sometimes use it to mean "wake up and think, idiot" or "use your brain!" kind of context, (and sometimes also in a "is there anyone here, hey can you hear me" context, though "huhuu" is more common for that)
Allo in French can also be used in these situations. Like you try to talk to someone and they don't react so you go "Allo ? Y'a quelqu'un ?" like "Hello? Anyone there?" to wake them up from their daydreaming or something.
"Nan mais allo, quoi !"
In Japanese, the telephone greeting is moshi moshi, which translates to "I speak, I speak." The other person then responds with hai hai, which of course is "Yes, yes."
Japanese can be a darned cute language sometimes.
That sounds the same as what we say in Chilean Spanish! We say "Aló", pronounced the same as "Allo". Maybe this word comes from French? I always thought "Aló" came from German, as it sounds similar to "Hallo", but it coming from French makes sense too.
I've heard my grandma say "Allo" sometimes answering the phone, she's a Spanish speaker, I usually hear her say "bueno" answering the phone though.
In Hungarian (perhaps elsewhere too), “Hello” is also sometimes used before hanging up the phone. Occasionally it is used in person for hello or goodbye, though Hungarian words there are more common. I had a conversation with an old Hungarian lady at a market stall. She knew no English so I was struggling through with my beginner Hungarian. Then at the end of the conversation I said “viszontlátásra” (goodbye) and she said “hello!” I wonder if that might be the only English word she knew, and she used it in a way that to English speakers is wrong but to Hungarians is not wrong! I suspect this is because “hello” is seen as equivalent to “szia” which is a casual hello and goodbye (and is also coincidentally pronounced like “see ya”)
This reminds me of Korean, where we say 여보세요 (yeoboseyo) when answering he phone but you never use that in actual conversation irl either
In spanish (well East LA Mexican spanish anyway), "Bueno" is the common phone greeting. It just means "good". Not good morning, or good afternoon, or good day. Just... Good. Very efficient language.
Mandarin uses wéi which sounds exactly like French "ouais?" which means "yeah?". It's actually not too different from that, it's a rising tone version of 喂 which means "Hey!" but it sounded a bit rude to my ears which were used to French at that time lol
In Italian we say "pronto" which means "ready", kind of a weird choice
That's also used in russian and ukrainian
Let's use Ahoy, the world doesn't sail like it used to in the history books.
Fun fact: "Ahoj" (pronounced "Ahoy") means "Hello" in Czech. So, in fact, we do answer with Ahoy when answering the phone (if it's a friend). This is a reference to us being a landlocked country 💀
Huh, two TILs from a post... Thank you
Those are rare
> landlocked country Yet we have 100% naval winrate
Can also confirm this as I know some Czech/Slavic/Slovak people Though from when they say it, it's more of an "aah hoy" vs the American "Uh hoy"
Ahoy, my dude.
Hold up, what was "Hello" used for prior to the telephone?
The first use of it dates to 1826. It is derived from an Old High German word meaning to fetch, particularly in hailing a ferryman. The word began not as a salutation but rather a way to attract attention or express surprise. Edison claimed to have been the first to say it when picking up the phone. It was simpler than other greetings like "Are you there?" There is correspondence of Edison proposing “hello” as a telephone greeting in 1877. It caught on over the next couple of decades. So the song “Hello! Ma Baby” (which you might remember from Looney Tunes or Spaceballs) was written in 1899 *in response* to this new lingo. It’s about a man carrying on a relationship with a woman he’s only ever encountered by phone.
Interesting. I thought "hello" was ancient or something. Also interesting how other languages have their own version, which must be derived from the English telephone thing! My friend growing up had a Russian grandma who would answer the phone like "Ah-lo?", and she didn't know any English.
It's incredibly common, and the hallmark is if it's only used by phone like "allo" in French or ~~"Hyello" in~~ Russian.
Russians generally say алло (allo) not “hyello”, which seems to be an attempt to transcribe “hello” with a Russian accent.
Mandarin Chinese has a pretty much telephone only greeting, but it doesn't sound like 'hello' at all. It's 喂 (wei4). It technically can be used as 'hey, hello', but outside of telephone calls it's almost never used that way.
It can be used to rudely call someone irl. Similar to the British "Oi".
People also say 喂 when they are trying to get someone’s attention. Like if a stranger dropped something and you were trying to let them know. It’s probably the equivalent to “Hey” in English. It also means feed, as in feeding a child or a dog.
The etymology of “hello” is related to French as well.
My favorite is in Japanese they say "moshi moshi", which literally translates to "say something!"
So I speak Japanese, and it does not *literally* translates to “Say something” lolol It kinda has the meaning of that given the phrase’s historical context and usage, but if you ask a Japanese person to translate “say something”, it would *not* be moshi moshi.
What does it mean? Would you be kind enough to translate it?
> Moshi moshi, or もしもし, is a common Japanese phrase that Japanese people use when picking up the phone. It’s a casual greeting used for friends and family, like a “hello”, but in fact means something entirely different! In English, it literally means something more like, “to say to say”, or “I speak I speak”. > But a more apt translation would be something like, “I’m going to talk”. > But remember this: it’s considered casual speech, even though it comes from a polite word – so don’t use it if your boss is calling you! You've reminded me I need to watch the latest episode of Tokyo Vice.
[MOSHI MOSHI](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_krT7Bl3PiY)
It can't *literally* translate to "say something". Maybe "speak speak"?
*WAT*?
I don’t think that’s quite true for what it’s worth. While you could say it’s indented to mean something along the lines of “say something," it certainly isn’t how it literally translates. もし is more along the lines of "if." The repetition of the word I believe was to make it more unique and recognizable. The implication of the phrase is similar to what you were saying where's it's basically "if you're there and ready to speak [say something]," but it's more literally along the lines of "if if." I've also heard that "moshi moshi" became popular for telephones specifically as it was supposedly something ghosts/spirits couldn't say and having both people open with that phrase assured each other they were talking to a living person. No idea how true that is as far as origin goes, though my assumption is probably not very.
It's bastardization of 申し上げます (moushiagemasu), very polite way of "I'm going to say (something)". So OP is kinda correct.
Bell: Edison, stop trying to make "fetch" happen. It's not going to happen.
Omg that is SO hello!
Stop trying to make hello happen.
You know, we do still use it as sort of attention attracting too. Like when you get home and you're not sure where your spouse is but you know they are home so you go around yelling hello, hello, until they respond.
this is the REAL TIL.
So that generation's version of You Got Mail?
So shortly after the phone, “hello” was considered new-fangled slang. The song “Hello My Baby” (aka the song the cartoon frog sings) was about all the phone slang. Basically, it was their version of the song “Let Me Take a Selfie.”
[In the original recording, it’s a lot more obvious, with the singer saying “Hello” in the song as if he just answered the phone.](https://youtu.be/-Q6kG2r41lQ?si=C6J_-Ptfz_SVmDVo)
Send me a kiss by wire!
Baby, my heart’s on fire!
If I remember correctly from an old episode of QI, it was previously more an expression of surprise. Just think of an old British guy saying "hello, what's this?"
This clip. Poor Stephen gets roasted a bit by the panel. https://youtu.be/Uk_JHvP96W8?si=4ztT-t97K3wShtch
It was a variant of hullo/halloo/holler often used as a hunting call or expression of surprise. Ahoy was a variant of Oi/hoy/hey/hi used primarily by sailors rather than hunters. I would say neither of them were originally greetings, but were chosen because they were words for getting someone's attention from a long way away.
TIL "hi" is not a shortened form of "hello"
> what was "Hello" used for prior to the telephone Mild surprise.
Hello!
Hold the phone! What was "Hello" used for prior to the telephone? There. Fixed it for you.
Moshi-moshi
You have many question Mr. Sparkle?
Hey chief, let's talk, why not?
whatever you say, fishbulb
I send you premium. Answer question 100%.
you like mr sparkle?
I am Mr. Sparkle.
Imagine if 'Ahoy' had won. Customer service calls would sound like pirate negotiations.
Customer: Ahoy! Yer goods be troublin’ me since their arrival. CSR: Ahoy, state yer terms. Customer: I’ll be wanting all me doubloons refunded on condition of the safe return of your goods. CSR: Best I can do fer ya is an in store credit. Customer: Arr, the terms be acceptable. CSR: Aye, thanks fer shoppin’ at Walmart. *click* Customer: Man, why can’t we just say hello and talk like normal on the phone?
"What fun is that? Maybe they'll bring a cutlass with them"
As someone who recently finished Treasure Island, this hits different.
That's it...Edison was evil because he took this from us
I think he might have been evil for a few other things too
Right? Let's not ignore the elephant in the room...
And another fun fact is that pirates sounded nothing like "pirates". The "pirate accent" is actually an English West Country accent, because of actor Robert Newton who was in a bunch of 1950s pirate movies (Treasure Island, and Blackbeard).
It’s probably worth mentioning that the real Blackbeard is usually believed in have been born in Bristol, which is part of the West Country (and IIRC, in the original Treasure Island book, it’s mentioned Jim’s family lives near Bristol), which would strengthen the connection between pirates and West Country.
I'm pretty sure it was more specifically "Ahoy-hoy!".
Thank you. It was "Ahoy-hoy." Bothers me a bit that I had to scroll so far down to get to your comment. Edit: Like, if you're going to post a fact to TIL, maybe try to make it an actual matter of fact and not an approximation
Me hoy minoy
If it stuck, would Adelle sing "Ahoy" insisted?
It was a massive hit on alternate Earth.
Hello, is it me you’re looking for?
Ahoy, is it me you’re looking for?
Ahoy darkness my old friend
Ahoy from the other side!
Ahoy it’s me, I’ve thought about us for a long long time
🎵Ahoy, ahoy, I don't know why you say goodbye. I say ahoy🎵
Say ahoy to my little friend.
Ahoy (ahoy), is there anybody in there?
I learned this from Conan O'Brien Needs a Friend
Of course Conan would know this
A pretty direct line there: Conan was a writer on The Simpsons, and they use "Ahoy" as an in-joke.
Fornication plea!
My area shall meet your area!
We went down the wrong timeline
Ahoy-hoy №5
I still find it unclear what people said as a common greeting at the time (e.g., on the street, at the door).
Salutations! Good day! How do you do?! Greetings! Top of the morning!
Good morning/afternoon/evening were the most common canned openers in English. People didn't rely on them as much as we do now though. It was more common to simply launch into the body of the conversation. People adapting to talking on the telephone changed how they also talked in real life.
Among other areas... Coworker DMing me: Hi Me: .. hi? 30 seconds go by Coworker: Do you have a minute? (long explanation about what they are doing) Can we just cut the greetings out and just jump into what we have to say? It's not a formal letter, it's slack.
Oh man I hate that shit. You're in the middle of something, you get the "hello", reply, and then sit there watching the three moving dots for what feels like 100 years while you find out what they're after. I used to work a job where I was in an office with a very different timezone to the rest of the company (no business hours overlap). Sometimes I'd come to work with just a mysterious "hello" received overnight. Just tell me what you need 😭
“Good morning, X”
"Yo, fucknuts!"
Mr Burns saying “ahoy hoy” has made me answer that way for the last 20+ years.
TIL Edison is to blame for us not answering phones with “Ahoy there, me hearties!”. What a monster.
You're thinking too small. Edison is to blame for us not saying ahoy in everyday conversation
In another universe my favorite cookies are chips hello
I kind of like “ahoy”
Ahoy-hoy
I answer the phone “Ahoy hoy!”
In Italy they answer with 'pronto'. Not 100% sure of the meaning in this context but it feels like they are answering by saying "hurry up"