Friday, 22 January 2016
Language change - the rise of 'hey'
I often mention the bewlidered state I find myself in when called upon to navigate the conventions of increasingly informal work emails. I use 'heya' to my friends but even the colleagues I am on very friendly terms with, I hesitate to use it if it is purely work content in the email I am sending. Would 'hey' be ok? 'Hello' is what I usually go with, but it irks me. It doesn't feel comfortable. What do you use with friends? When you email work or me? Anyone prepared to write an aricle giving us bewilderednesses a hint about how you youthfullnesses are adapting to changing conventions of emailing? Anyone equally as uncomfortable as me? Read this and comment.
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I found this article a very interesting read and if further research was done into this I can imagine the increase in the use of the word 'hey' and it's most prominent origin would be even more clear. I myself am an avid user of the word and I notice a large amount of other people in my age bracket use it as a friendly greeting, rather than a way to get the attention of someone else. I appreciated the examples given of how 'hey' can be used in different ways to communicate with people such as the reference to films like star wars.
ReplyDeleteI think this article has some good point and shows how 'hey' could grow in the future and have more use. I believe the word 'hey' is completely informal and i personally would not use it when addressing someone who i rarely talk to. I think the word is mostly used as a greeting or to attract attention, like it says in the article, within not only the younger generation but the older too. However, i do think it has a limitation to who's using it because i think those around 70 years old may not use it as freely as we do. I don't understand the need to start putting it into e-mails as i feel they are a more formal way of contacting someone. Putting 'hey' at the start to someone you may not be close with or they have more seniority than you seems wrong and awkward.
ReplyDeleteThis article has some good ideas and points of view which many people would agree with, such as how the informal greeting 'hey' has been used in the past and the main point of view that hey has the potential to expand in the future and become apart of multiple conversations, more controversially formal ones. Personally I do not believe that 'hey' will ever be used in formal conversations as people may perceive it has connotations or can be used in a way that should not be used in a formal manner. With that, I believe it will grow in the informal use such as colleagues using it when greeting at the start of the day, but will not be used when speaking to hierarchy in the workforce for example.
ReplyDeleteI personally only use 'hey' whilst speaking to friends and people of my age. I find this greeting quite informal, therefore I would not use it in formal emails or when speaking to adults. The greeting only appeals to certain age groups eg. teenagers and young adults, as I could not imagine an elderly person saying 'hey' whilst talking to someone. Unless they wanted to impress their grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteI think 'hey' is an informal slang word for the formal word 'hello'. I have mainly heard it used by young adults and teenagers. 'Hey' is used to greet friends and family however people switch to use 'hello' when trying to seem more formal to people they don't usually speak to.
ReplyDeleteI had never really thought of the word 'hey' as anything more than an informal greeting, so I found this article interesting. I often use the word when greeting friends or starting off a text, however I would never use it when greeting an adult I am not comfortable around or someone I don't know very well. I agree with the article when it discusses 'hey' being used as a way to get someones attention although I think it is now more commonly used to say hello.
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ReplyDeleteI agree with you, I find it uncomfortable starting off emails. I struggle to find the balance of informal and formal with certain people. For example with my friends I would use the informal 'hey' where as for the teachers (like you) who teach my lessons, I would use 'Hi' and then put their name. I think this is because I'm more friendly with teachers who teach me than others. The struggle I have is emailing people who I don't know or have only met once or twice. For those situations I would either use 'Hello' or just put their name at the start of the email.
ReplyDeleteThis article gets straight to the point on how the word 'hey' is not formal and how it is not in the English dictionary, but I believe they are missing a point.The English language is changing all the time and exploring new ways in communication and the word 'hey' is part of it. By the Oxford English Dictionary defining the word as a 'call to attract attention' is ridiculous due to many people from around the world using the word and as Shapiro in Portland says, it is becoming more popular than the word 'hi'. So can this many people be calling out for attention? On the other hand, I do find the article gets more intriguing as I did not know that the synonym 'hey' had such a history and how it is perceived differently in different cultures. Above all this, I agree with you as I believe the word 'hey' is too informal when it comes to talking to colleagues as the word implies a more friendly, laid back feeling rather than a introduction to a serious and important conversation.
ReplyDeleteAs the articles states, 'hey' will almost certainly grow in popularity in the future, especially with the rise in social media we have experienced in recent years. I think that 'hey' is a perfectly acceptable salutation for e-mails, although I would more commonly use it on social media or in verbal conversation. It is important to consider the constraints however, and if you were the less powerful participant, something more formal such as hello would likely be more appropriate. I often use the salutation 'hi', which, although also informal, I believe does not require such a great deal of familiarity with the recipient.
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