“Alexander Graham Bell” is famously known as the inventor of the “telephone”, the primary device which paved the way for modern advanced communication systems. It is customary worldwide to use the term” hello” when answering a phone call. But what is the origin of the word “hello”? A series of viral social media posts said that the origins of “hello” can be traced back to Graham Bell`s girlfriend. Is this true?
Let’s look at the claim first.
Social Media Posts
Social media posts are being spread virally stating that the beginning of the term “hello” can be traced back to Graham Bell`s time and his girlfriend`s name was “Margaret Hello”.
Such posts were viral on Facebook.
And those posts were in WhatsApp also.
We decided to do a fact-check on this.
Fact Check
First, we searched the name “Margaret Hello” via Google Search. There was no connection between Alexander Graham Bell and anyone of that name.
Several fact-checking websites have published articles containing information in this regard. The website Africa-Check asked the author of the book “Alexander Graham Bell: Giving voice to the World” about this; she reportedly said this social media narration was wholly false, and Graham Bell`s first words from the telephone were “Mr Watson- Come here-I want to see you”.
According to the Wikipedia website, the word Hello comes from “hallo” and “hollo”. It also states that Alexander Graham Bell intended to use the word “Ahoy” when using the telephone and that Thomas Alva Edison was the first to have the honour of using the word ‘hello’ in the use of the phone.
The fact-checking website Snopes also published an article containing information about viral social media posts. Accordingly, it states that the girlfriend of Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone, was not Margaret Hello, but a girl named Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, who was also a childhood friend of Graham Bell. Later on, Bell married her. The Snopes article can be read here. Archived.
Also Read : Hellow (හෙලෝ) යනුවෙන් පිළිතුරු දෙන්නේ දුරකථනයේ නිර්මාතෘගේ පෙම්වතියගේ නම මාග්රට් හෙලෝ වූ නිසා නොවේ!
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Conclusion
Our investigation reveals that the social media post claiming that the word “Hello” term had origins as it was the surname of Alexander Graham Bell`s girlfriend is misleading.
Mabel Gardiner Hubbard was the girlfriend and late wife of Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone. The word Hello is derived from “hallo” and “hollo”, and the honour of using the word ‘hello’ belongs to Thomas Alva Edison.
Title:The Origins of “Hello” was NOT linked to Graham Bell`s Girl Friend! Find Out the Truth…
Fact Check By: Kalana KrishanthaResult: False
