Instigator / Pro

RationalMadman

1702

rating

574

debates

67.86%

won

Topic

#2089

'Hello' is a term used for greeting.

Status

Finished

The debate is finished. The distribution of the voting points and the winner are presented below.

Winner & statistics

Better arguments

Better sources

Better legibility

Better conduct

After 5 votes and with 20 points ahead, the winner is...

RationalMadman

Tags

Miscellaneous

Parameters

Publication date: 06.13.2020 11:43PM
Last updated date: 06.21.2020 12:04AM
Type: Standard
Number of rounds: 1
Time for argument: One day
Max argument characters: 3,000
Voting period: One week
Point system: Multiple criterions
Voting system: Open

Contender / Con

EricT

1440

rating

debates

0.0%

won

Description

No information

Round 1

RationalMadman

06.14.2020 12:01AM

Pro

The definition of 'hello' inherently ties it to be used for greeting.

used when meeting or greeting someone

Cambridge

Used as a greeting or to begin a telephone conversation.

Oxford

In other ways it's used, it is still functioning as a greeting but merely a more nuanced one.

It originates from a term used for greeting people that was known as 'hullo':

Hullo
Hello might be derived from hullo, which the American Merriam-Webster dictionary describes as a "chiefly British variant of hello",[16] and which was originally used as an exclamation to call attention, an expression of surprise, or a greeting. Hullo is found in publications as early as 1803.[17] The word hullo is still in use, with the meaning hello.[18][19][20][21][22]

Wikipedia

What is greeting and how to we qualify something as used for that purpose?

to welcome someone with particular words or a particular action, or to react to something in the stated way:
The teacher greeted each child with a friendly "Hello!"
The unions have greeted the decision with delight/anger.

to welcome someone with particular words or a particular action, or to react to something in the stated way:
The men greeted each other warmly.
The mayor was greeted with shouts of anger.

Cambridge

When using the term 'hello' we are generally greeting. A key example to refer to for Con will be something like when Adele sings 'Hello' but really isn't greeting anyone, it's intended for the audience to hear in the song. Nonetheless, she is constructing a situation where there is an imaginary person that she is greeting in order to illustrate a poetic construct.

Here is the song: https://youtu.be/YQHsXMglC9A?t=74

If you will observe, she is actually indeed greeting her ex lover in the context.

The 'attention grab' Hello and the 'surprise'.

The alternative uses of 'hello' are:

something that is said to attract someone's attention
said to someone who has just said or done something stupid, especially something that shows they are not noticing what is happening
an expression of surprise

Cambridge

Refer back to what 'greet' is and see that clearly attracting someone's attention matches the former definition while the 'did something stupid' use of 'hello' is also a greeting via the latter definition of 'greet'.

When one expresses surprise by saying hello, it's usually said to someone next to them as a nudge for them to realise the person is feeling surprised as well as to grab the attention of the person so that the speaker is listened to in what they say next.

An example given by Cambridge is:

'Hello, this is very strange - I know that man.'

I conclude that 'hello' is a term used for greeting.

EricT

06.14.2020 12:04AM

Con

in other languages, technically, the word "hello" does not exist. for example, in spanish, it is hola. While it translates to hello, it is technically not the word hello, so that means hello is not used for greeting in countries that do not use English as a first language.

Also, this is really poor debate topic so I wont exert any effort into it

User_2006

06.14.2020 12:19AM

-->

@EricT

No. I vote objectively. If one makes poor arguments, he loses.

EricT

06.14.2020 12:18AM

-->

@User_2006

First, I don't care about this website so you can do that too. Also, if you don't like that, vote for me. I will probably be leaving this site within a few days.

User_2006

06.14.2020 12:15AM

-->

@EricT

You realize RM is using you as a free win farm, right?

EricT

06.14.2020 12:09AM

-->

@User_2006

Im debating you imbecile

User_2006

06.14.2020 12:01AM

-->

@EricT

Just what, are you doing?

EricT

06.13.2020 11:43PM

lmao this is kind of ridiculous

Trent0405

06.18.2020 10:26AM

Criterion

Pro

Tie

Con

Points

Better arguments

3 point(s)

Better sources

2 point(s)

Better legibility

1 point(s)

Better conduct

1 point(s)

Reason:

Poor performance from Con, despite hello in certain parts of the world not being seen as a term used for greeting, it certainly can be and is used as a greeting.

oromagi

06.18.2020 04:13AM

Criterion

Pro

Tie

Con

Points

Better arguments

3 point(s)

Better sources

2 point(s)

Better legibility

1 point(s)

Better conduct

1 point(s)

Reason:

CON's single argument was weak in reasoning and effort. PRO showed that the defined term is sometimes used as asserted by thesis. The fact that some others don't use the term that way in no way refutes the validity of that usage by some. ARGs to PRO.

Barney

06.14.2020 10:08AM

Criterion

Pro

Tie

Con

Points

Better arguments

3 point(s)

Better sources

2 point(s)

Better legibility

1 point(s)

Better conduct

1 point(s)

Reason:

Wow, single round debate, RM offered a low effort win (due to pro being unable to defend any point challenged), but no contest to the presented argument. Con kind of attempted a classic Wylted K of begging for votes, but put zero effort into it.

PressF4Respect

06.14.2020 01:16AM

Criterion

Pro

Tie

Con

Points

Better arguments

3 point(s)

Better sources

2 point(s)

Better legibility

1 point(s)

Better conduct

1 point(s)

Reason:

Arguments:
Pro proved that hello is used for a greeting. Con countered this by saying that other languages don't use the word 'Hello' for greeting. However, this argument does not work, as 'Hello' would still be used as a greeting by some people (English speakers). Thus, the argument point goes to Pro.

Sources:
Pro used sources. Con didn't. Sources go to Pro.

Conduct:
"Poor debate topic, therefore I won't put any effort into it."
This is borderline, but not egregious enough to give the conduct point to Pro.

User_2006

06.14.2020 12:16AM

Criterion

Pro

Tie

Con

Points

Better arguments

3 point(s)

Better sources

2 point(s)

Better legibility

1 point(s)

Better conduct

1 point(s)

Reason:

Pro is the only one who provided any argument and used sources. Con used a low-level semantical exploit and that will mean conduct is lost.

Overall RM remains victorious.