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I have a question regarding the German word Halli-Hallo.

Wann benutzen wir dieses Wort:

Halli-Hallo

user unknown
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joki3
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    According to Duden it is especially geared toward calling attention to yourself. So it’s colloquial, seldom used, playful and attention grabbing. It seem to have no origin in a different term (like hallali in hunting) besides being playful with Similiar sounding Hallo. – eckes Feb 21 '21 at 08:28
  • I'm familiar with "Es herrscht ein grosses Halli-Hallo" too. It's probably regional. – Mirjam Urfer Aug 18 '21 at 12:49

3 Answers3

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Halli Hallo is a joyful informal expression to greet someone. The Halli does not have any special meaning. I think it's very rarely used, especially among adults. Children might use it more often.

If you use it with your (German) friends, you will likely get a laugh as a response, because it sounds funny and foreigners are not really expected to know this expression, so this can catch them by surprise :)

You should never use this in a formal environment (and be cautious in a professional one). It is not impolite or offensive, but Halli Hallo is the wrong register of speech. People might take you less seriously if you use this. For instance in English, you wouldn't say "see you later, alligator" in a formal meeting.

infinitezero
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    Suppose I will use this word in my professional life. What will happen? Can you please explain to me more? – joki3 Feb 20 '21 at 13:11
  • @joki3 People will laugh and either think it's cute for a language learner to use this word or won't take you seriously. – amadeusamadeus Feb 20 '21 at 15:16
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    Maybe you can compare "halli hallo" to English greetings like "yoo hoo", "howdy", "hidy ho" and the like - very informal, very playful if not childisch. – Henning Kockerbeck Feb 20 '21 at 15:48
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    I would add that register is a personal choice as well as a cultural norm and is influenced by the speaker's personality, friends and family. There are people who always say "Howdy" instead of of "Hello", and others who talk like Wikipedia most of the time. My advice is that if you have to ask then stick with the most neutral register possible. – RDBury Feb 21 '21 at 01:29
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    Is this what Ned Flanders says in the German dub of The Simpsons? – Federico Poloni Feb 21 '21 at 12:53
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    Very good answer. I'd just add that "Halli Hallo" is not "very rarely used". Several of my friends (in their early and late 20s) use it, and they don't particularly stand out by doing so. – Ingo Blechschmidt Feb 21 '21 at 17:52
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    @FedericoPoloni I can't remember for sure, but it seems so: https://simpsonspedia.net/index.php/9F05_Capsule – henning Feb 22 '21 at 08:22
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    Die Empfehlung die Phrase nicht im beruflichen Umfeld zu benutzen trifft nur auf formale, berufliche Umfelder zu, und ist daher mit diesen schon abgefrühstückt. Es gibt sehr viele berufliche Umfelder, in denen der Begriff, der auch beschreibend benutzt wird ("Es herrschte ein großes Halli-Hallo."), vollkommen in Ordnung ist. – user unknown Feb 22 '21 at 13:48
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    @userunknown: Are you sure about Es herrschte ein großes Halli-Hallo? I guess you mean this in the sense of Trubel, Radau, Tohuwabohu etc., but I've never seen it used in this way. Ein großes Hallo herrschen seems to be the established expression. Do you have any attestation of your suggested use? – Schmuddi Feb 22 '21 at 20:41
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    @userunknown Did you mean Halli-Galli? – Hagen von Eitzen Feb 23 '21 at 01:16
  • @Schmuddi: Nein, ein großes Halli-Hallo ist kein Radau oder Tohuwabohu, jedenfalls nicht notwendig, sondern ein Kommen & Gehen, aber mit Begrüßungen, also nicht der Eingangsbereich einer Shopping-Mall. Und nein, Belege habe ich keine. – user unknown Feb 23 '21 at 13:14
  • @HagenvonEitzen: Nein. – user unknown Feb 23 '21 at 13:14
  • @userunknown: Do you see a difference between Im Eingangsbereich der _Shopping-Mall herrsche ein großes Halli-Hallo_ and ...herrsche ein großes Hallo? Is Trubel a proper synonym in your use case of Halli-Hallo? – Schmuddi Feb 23 '21 at 17:16
  • There's the idiom ein großes Hallo. – amadeusamadeus Feb 24 '21 at 13:41
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In addition to infinitezero's accurate answer, let me add some practical experiences of this expression, which should also be an answer to joki3's comment above.

A few years ago, my German teacher came to my place of work, where we had 1 hour of German instruction in a classroom setting. She would invariably enter the room with a "Halli Hallo", which most of us never had heard at the start. It was explained to us, that it was indeed a very informal, playful greeting and not for formal settings. I do think her use of the phrase was very wise, because it was a trigger for us to forget our daily work and routine for a while and be a bit more playful and open for learning. No surprise, we started to use it amongst ourselves in class and occassionally amongst each other, when not in meetings. e.g. at the coffee machine or meeting in the corridor.

This could be compared to hearing "yoo hoo" from very well acquainted colleagues as a greeting before a meeting or to really get some attention during a meeting. I have heard this kind of thing very very rarely.

Satish Vasan
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Let me offer the following popular children's rhyme as one more example to show that it is not a "serious" expression of greeting :

(in a sing-song voice)

Hallihallo

Wer sitzt am Klo

Der Krampus und der Nikolo

(it's about two figures of children's folklore sitting on the toilet)

rods19877
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