I like to say 'good morning', 'good afternoon' and 'good evening'. They possess more character and dignity than 'hello'. The only problem with them is, though, that at certain times of the day I'm not sure which of the phrases to use. I used to say 'good afternoon' to people as soon as the time was after noon, but people kept replying 'good morning' to me at half past twelve. When do you think the afternoon turns into the evening, exactly? Perhaps at quarter past five?
Occasionally, the part of me that regulates my speech goes awry, and I say, for instance, 'good morning' at seven o'clock in the evening. Do you ever make such mistakes? Are you subsequently embarrassed, or amused?
6 comments:
Time is a relative concept. That said, I only usually offer a 'hallo' or 'good marrow' myself. 'Hallo' is infinitely better than 'hello'.
Ben: Time is round and space is curved. Yes, it's good to put a bit of character, a bit of zeal into one's greetings, even if there's a hint of irony in this, as the connection with another human being falls so far short of its theoretical potential.
I love how you write. I love how you think. Good morning, brightens my day. Hello, is just.. well, eh.
Jinal: Thank you very much indeed for your flattering praise. Such appreciation means much to me.
As it is just past midnight as I write, I feel I should wish you 'goodnight'. But 'goodnight' has its own problematic, does it not? In a nutshell, it is usually used as an alternative to 'goodbye', rather than as an alternative to 'hello'.
Furthermore, it would seem to perverse to wish you 'goodnight', when where you live it is still the afternoon. Nor do I actually know at what time of day you will read this comment.
One wonders whether 'hello' was conceived in order to remove such small but niggling uncertainties.
I walked into my workplace yesterday and said good morning before realising it was 2pm. I'd had a late shift the night before and was rostered a late start, so it felt to me completely like it was morning, even though the others had been working since 9am.
Related, but not - I've been enjoying yestereve as a replacement for last night.
Lee: Thank you for your tale. What a rich and exciting source of confusion these time-of-day-related greetings can be.
Yestereve I like a lot. Yesterdecade I'm fond of, too.
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