Useful phrases in Old English (2024)

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Useful phrases in Old English? ›

Wes þū hāl - hello; goodbye (to one person)

Wes þū hāl - hello; goodbye (to one person)

Bill Bryson asserts in his book Mother Tongue that "hello" is a contraction of the Old English phrase hál béo þu ("Hale be thou", or "whole be thou", meaning a wish for good health; cf. "goodbye" which is a contraction of "God be with ye").

Most native English speakers today find Old English unintelligible, even though about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots.

Originally a Norse greeting, “heil og sæl” had the form “heill ok sæll” when addressed to a man and “heil ok sæl” when addressed to a woman. Other versions were “ver heill ok sæll” (lit. be healthy and happy) and simply “heill” (lit.

The Vikings spoke Old Norse, also known as Dǫnsk Tunga/Norrœnt mál. Old Norse was a North Germanic language spoken by the Vikings in Scandinavia, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, and in parts of Russia, France, the British Isles where Vikings had settled.

Etymology. From Middle English gud mornynge (also as goode morne, gode morne), from Old English *gōdne morgen (“good morning”), an ellipsis for an expression such as "I wish you a good morning", equivalent to good +‎ morning.

The English word 'yes' is thought to come from the Old English word 'gēse', meaning 'may it be so', and can be traced back to earlier than the 12th century. In the centuries since, lots of alternatives to the word 'yes' have sprung up in the English language, and there are no many meanings for the word 'yes' too.

So it means “Be well!” and was used as a greeting or a toast. Incidentally, Wes hal! gave rise to the archaic word wassail, which can also be used as a greeting or a toast, or can mean the drink served on festive occasions (traditionally spiced ale or wine).

What does Lufu mean? ›

The English word love comes from the Old English word lufu meaning deep affection. The word lufu is linked to the Old Frisian word luve, Old German luba and the Gothic lubo. The Indo-European root comes from the Latin lubet meaning pleasant, and lubido meaning desire.

In medieval England, "Hail fellow" was a common greeting. By the 16th century this had morphed a bit into the more elaborate form "Hail fellow, well met." "God save you" would also have been a conventional greeting.

Anything from grunts, nods, hand-waving, and other gestures, through “Hail to thee”, “How fare thee”, “Good morrow”, and “How do you do?”, etc., until “Hello” (possibly from Old English “Whole/Hale be thou”, and then “Hi” took over in casual English.

While use of the term hello dates back earlier, it isn't recorded with this exact spelling until the 1800s. Hello is considered a variant on a number of other similar words—like hallo, holla, and hollo—that were used to hail and shout to gain attention and recorded prior to the 1800s.

Before that, all the way back to the Middle Ages, hail was a common English greeting. (The word is related to health, so it was not only a salutation but well-wishing.)