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PUBLISHED: 01/17/1997
KINGSVILLE, Texas (AP) -- In this friendly little ranching town, "hello" is wearing out its welcome. And Leonso Canales Jr. is happy as heck.
At his urging, the Kleberg County commissioners on Monday unanimously designated "heaven-o" as the county's official greeting. The reason: "hello" contains the word "hell."
"When you go to school and church, they tell you 'hell' is negative and 'heaven' is positive,'" said the 56-year-old Canales, who owns the Kingsville Flea Market. "I think it's time that we set a new precedent, to tell our kids that we are positive adults."
The new salutation, according to the county resolution, is a "symbol of peace, friendship and welcome" in this "age of anxiety."
On Thursday, courthouse employees were answering the phones, "heaven-o." And the chamber of commerce was working on a campaign promoting Kingsville, a Rio Grande Valley town of 25,000, as a "heavenly" place to visit.
"People seem to think that it might catch on," said county Judge Pete De La Garza.
Not everyone is a convert to Kleberg County's heavenly ways. Madolyn Musick, who runs a bookstore, insisted, and linguists would agree, that "hello" has nothing to do with "hell." Besides, she added, "What's wrong with, 'Howdy, y'all?'"
Canales, a Catholic but not a regular churchgoer, has been as serious as heck about "hello" since 1988, when he told his brother he might start greeting people with "God-o." His brother suggested "heaven-o" instead.
David Sabrio, a professor of English at Texas A&M University-Kingsville, noted that the Oxford English Dictionary says "hello" stems from an old German greeting for hailing a boat.
"Linguistically and historically, the word 'hello' has no connection at all with what we associate with the underworld," he said. "People may make that connection in their own mind. I certainly don't."
116 Comments
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Christians are retards.
Christians are retards.
I second that. So...its true
I second that. So...its true now, right?
Screw those bastards with
Screw those bastards with their anger and hasty generalizations.
Irony?
Irony?
facepalm
facepalm.jpg
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DontExplainTheJoke
I second that. So...its true now, right?
Hell-O
I second your second, so I guess we have something approximating a consensus.
Hell-O
Can I make it a quorum.
Triple-Second
I second your second of his second!
You're ignorance is just as
You're ignorance is just as bad as theirs.
Your*
Your*
Owned.
Owned.
lol....that made my
lol....that made my day.
http://www.sixthsphere.com/
only in America
only in America
Holy shit, What next?
Holy shit,
What next? Idiots!
It doesn't say the guy is
It doesn't say the guy is Christian, the article states he is "Catholic, but does not attend church regularly."
I
Catholicism is a denomination
Catholicism is a denomination of the Christian faith, dude.
So if you combine Christians
So if you combine Christians with Texans, you get retard squared...
Like George W.
Like George W.
Remember one thing Austin !=
Remember one thing Austin != Texas
OMFG people actually are this stupid ?
Mental note: never visit... whatever the hell is called.
LOL
Oh poor westerners...They try really hard,looking for peace and God in wrong places.
Re: LOL
haha, yeah! =D
Everybody knows Jesus is in the bottom of a bottle.
I personally use 'lo, just to
I personally use 'lo, just to be ironic. Everyone else says 'hi'(gh).. i say 'lo'(w)
I've lived there and this is
I've lived there and this is a simple case of a backwater town with nothing to do and too much time on their hands, so the petty officials and local organization members make up dumb rules and ordnances. There's only about 25,000 people but there must be over 50 churches in the town - well, not much else to do there I suppose :)
Wow, what a creative and
Wow, what a creative and ingenious idea *sarcasm*. Somewhere in Kingsville, Texas a six-year old thrilled that her idea caught on.
Hmm
Heaven? No.
Good Job
So far I like this comment the best!
Heaven-o is from a Kids in
Heaven-o is from a Kids in the Hall sketch.
Heaven... hell... wtf does it
Heaven... hell... wtf does it have to do with a salutation? Do they change all their mayonnaise labels to Heavenmans mayonaise? Since they are going by how it "sounds", when you're in need, do you get heavenlp instead of HELp? It's ridiculous... Religion misdirected. Where's the separation of church and state we support as Americans?
Actually, I think Hellman's
Actually, I think Hellman's is marketed as "salad dressing", just sayin'.
Um . . . .
Errrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr - this is a joke right? This is something like The Onion, right? Yes - it has to be. Hehehehe - no way is it real. . . . . . . . please?
I agree....I actually
I agree....I actually stopped reading to check the address bar to see whether it was from The Onion :|
I was quite shocked when it wasn't...
You can secede now...
...and take Alaska with you. Apparently there's a connection between big oil and idiocy.
You can say "Hi". Heaven-O just sounds stupid.
This is another way the Christians are trying to circumvent the separation of church and state. Government employees should not be promoting religion while they are on the job. I'm pretty sure this is illegal.
Not all Christians...
This is clearly a publicity stunt for the town, and a poor one at that. It does come across as ignorant.
...but don't lump all Christians into this. There are plenty of Christians who understanding things like etymology and besides, this changing hello to heaven-o comes off as superstitious, which is inherently un-Christian according to the tenants of the faith (Christians who are superstitious, shouldn't be.)
Besides, heaven-o just sounds stupid.
Not all Christians
(Christians who are superstitious, shouldn't be.)
My irony meter just exploded.
Seconded
Seconded
Thirded
Thirded
Oh, indeed!
Oh, indeed!
Moderates vs Fundies
The problem with moderate Christians is that they so often stay silent when the fundamentalists say and do wacky (or evil) things. Doing or saying nothing when other Christians are acting badly is not much different from agreeing with them and supporting them.
GWAR fans are screwed
GWAR fans are screwed if they live in this town and want to talk about the band's first album, Hell-O.
GWAR! GWAR!
Well, sheeit. Hahaha.
I'm Catholic, devout even, and this is just Moronic!
Absolutely nothing to do with being a Christian or Catholic or what have you. This is just stupid people making a big deal out of something stupid in the first place. "Hello" has nothing to do with Hell, as many have pointed out...
And don't lump Christians as being inherently stupid. There are stupid people in EVERY crowd, religious or not!
Sorry, but yes you are
Sorry, but yes you are stupid.
Sorry, but no.
I'm an atheist, and I disagree.
I'm also an Atheist.
I'm an Atheist and Vice President of Humanist Association of San Diego and I also disagree. Although on a whole most of the stupid people I have met have been Christian. But not all.
Utterly utterly moronic.
Utterly utterly moronic.
Hello originates from Hallo, which comes from holla = ho (ahoy!) la (there). Where is the devil in all of this word evolution?
Why not just use Hi instead?
RE: Utterly utterly moronic.
Where is the devil in all of this word evolution?
You mean evilution, right? And we can't use "Hi" instead, that's a drug word, and drugs are bad.
M'kay...
M'kay...
Ha!
For people who don't like "generalizations", "screw those bastards" and "Christians are retards" sure does paint a different story.
Atheists make the best comedians.. aka people who aren't seen as being important.
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