[lit-ideas] Re: Hello!
- From: epostboxx@xxxxxxxx
- To: Lit-Ideas <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 24 Nov 2018 15:53:13 +0100
On 21. Nov 2018, at 23:05, david ritchie <profdritchie@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Nov 21, 2018, at 11:40 AM, epostboxx@xxxxxxxx wrote:
Hello, Lit-Ideas listmembers,
According to Wikipedia, today is World Hello Day.
. . . Possibly there should be a World What-Ho Day also?
What would it be in aid of?
Although (as a die-hard Wodehouse fan) I do use the salutation 'What ho!' in
addressing my correspondence to a friend in North Yorkshire, I must confess to
be unsure of its precise meaning.
I have taken it to be roughly synonymous with 'What's up?' or perhaps 'What are
you up to?' - indicating an interest in my correspondent's current condition
and activities.
If this (or one of these) meaning(s) is correct, then I would take a 'World
What-Ho Day' to be going a step further than 'World Hello Day', in that one is
not merely greeting those one meets, but also enquiring into their condition,
plans and activities (this showing interest in them as particular individuals
and not merely token specimens of 'the crooked timber of humanity.')
The response to expressions of such interest in, and inquiry into, the lives
and activites of those so greeted (particularly strangers) would to my mind
be, to say the least, 'mixed' - and perhaps even in some cases 'interesting'
(as in the Chinese *curse*: 'May you live in interesting times.').
But no doubt the grey and dreary environmental conditions of the day (foggy,
cloudy with on-and-off drizzle and a temperature of four degrees Celsius) are
eroding the possibility of an optimistic outlook on my part. Indeed, my first
response to David's 'escalation' of the 'World Hello Day' activities was to
consider that perhaps the occasional 'World Hold Your Tongue Day' may also be
highly appropriate.
I welcome suggestions from list members as to what *that* would be in aid of
(and, if interest is shown, will explicate my opinions in a later posting).
Chris Bruce,
setting the kettle on for a hopefully
heart-warming cup of tea, in dreary
Kiel, Germany
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