Current Usage of "Hello"

[Fred Shapiro]

The Historical Dictionary of American Slang gives, as its first citation
for _hello_ 'interjection used to call attention to the foolishness of an
idea, comment, etc.' a line from the film _Back to the Future_ (1985):
"Hello? McFly?"  Would anyone hazard a guess as to whether this usage was
coined or popularized by that film?

Fred Shapiro


--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Fred R. Shapiro                             Editor
Associate Librarian for Collections and     YALE DICTIONARY OF QUOTATIONS
  Access and Lecturer in Legal Research     Yale University Press,
Yale Law School                             forthcoming
e-mail: fred.shapiro at yale.edu               http://quotationdictionary.com
--------------------------------------------------------------------------