Question: I have read that the word "hello" was first used by Thomas Edison. Is this true?
Answer: The American inventor Thomas Edison is often given credit for being the first person to use "hello" as a telephone greeting, but we have no way of knowing whether or not this legend is true. We do know that the word became popular as a salutation during Edison's lifetime, about the same time telephones were first used. We also know that the spelling "hello" first appeared in print in the 1880s, approximately 10 years after the invention of the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell.
"Hello" was not the only early telephone greeting. Operators of the first telephone exchange in New Haven, Conn., reportedly answered phones with the salutation "Ahoy! Ahoy!" In Britain it was usual to say simply "Are you there?" It is possible that the Edison legend had something to do with the growth in popularity of "hello" over these other options.
But even if Edison really was the first person to answer the phone with "hello," we know that the word did not spring from his lips without precedent. The salutation "hello" is thought to have evolved from "hollo," an interjection used to attract attention or as a call of encouragement or jubilation, and from "hallo," a later variant also used as an expression of surprise. "Hollo" dates from the 16th century, and both "hallo" and "hullo," a chiefly British variant of "hello," appeared in print before either Thomas Edison or Alexander Graham Bell had become famous as inventors.
Question: These days, I hear a lot of the verb "to parent," meaning "to raise one's child." I wish there were some other term available, but "to mother" often implies "to smother" and "to father" usually means to beget a child.
Answer: We actually enter "parenting" in our Collegiate Dictionary as a noun, since most of our evidence shows it used in this form. Its relative novelty may be the reason some people dislike it - we first saw it in print in 1958, so it's less than 40 years old. The word has received decidedly mixed reviews from usage commentators. One feels that it smacks too much of sociological jargon. Others find it useful.
Even though reviews may be mixed, "parenting" is being used with some frequency, perhaps because it says in one word what formerly had to be said in several. It's also worth noting that, over the last two decades, more and more commentators are being won over to the side of acceptance.
If you're looking for a good alternative, all we can suggest are prosaic compounds like "child-rearing" and "child-raising." This does seem to be an area in which our language is strangely lacking.